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1 


Epochs  of  Modern  History 


EDITED  BY 


EDWARD    E.  MORRIS,    M.  A.  &  J.  SURTEES    PHILLPOTTS,  R.  C.  L, 


THE  EIRST  TWO  STUARTS  AND  THE 
PURITAN  REVOLUTION, 


S.  R.  GARDINER. 


EPOCHS  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY. 

Edited  by  Rev.  G.  W.  Cox  and  Charles  Sankey,  M.  A. 
Eleven  volumes,  i6mo,  with  41  Maps  and  Plans.  Price  per 
vol.,  $1.00.  The  set,  Roxburgh  style,  gilt  top,  in  box,  $11,00. 

Troy — Its  Legend,  History,  and  Literature.    By  S.  G.  W. 

Benjamin 

The  Greeks  and  the  Persians.    By  G.  W.  Cox. 

The  Athenian  Empire,    By  G.  W.  Cox. 

The  Spartan  and  Theban  Supremacies.    By  Charles  Sankey. 

The  Macedonian  Emfire.    By  A.  iNl.  Curteis. 

Early  Rome.    By  W.  Ihne. 

Rome  and  Carthage.    By  R.  Bosworth  Smith. 

The  Gracchi,  Marius,  and  Sulla.    By  A.  H.  Beesley. 

The  Roman  Triumvirates.    By  Charles  Merivale. 

The  Earlv  Empire.    By  W.  Wolfe  Capes. 

The  Age  of  the  Antonines.    By  W.  Wolfe  Capes. 

EPOCHS  OF  MODERN  HISTORY. 

Edited  by  Edward  E.  Morris.  Eighteen  volumes,  i6mo, 
with  77  Maps,  Plans,  and  Fables.  Price  per  vol.,  $1.00. 
The  set,  Roxburgh  style,  gilt  top,  in  box,  $18.00. 

The  Beginning  of  the  Middle  Ages.    By  R.  W.  Church. 

The  Normans  in  Europe.    By  A.  H.  Johnson. 

The  Crusades.   By  G.  W.  Cox. 

The  Early  Plantagenets.    By  Wm.  Stubbs. 

Edward  III.    By  W.  Warburton. 

The  Houses  of  Lancaster  and  York.    By  James  Gairdner. 

The  Era  of  the  Protestant  Revolution.    By  Frederic  Seebohm. 

THr:  Early  Tudors.    By  C.  E.  Moberly. 

The  Age  of  Elizabeth.    By  M.  Creighton. 

The  Thirty  Years  War,  1618-1648.    By  S.  R.  Gardiner. 

The  Puritan  Revolution.    By  S.  R.  Gardiner. 

The  Fall  of  the  Stuarts.    By  Rdwnrd  Hale. 

The  English  Restoration  and  Louis  XIV.    By  Osmond  Airy. 

The  Age  of  Anne.    By  Edward  1^.  Morns. 

The  Early  Hanoverians.    Bv  Edward  E.  Morris. 

Frederick  the  Great.    By  F.  W.  Longman. 

The  French  Revolution  and  First  Empire.     By  W.  O'Cc  nno* 

Morris.    Appendix  by  Andrew  D.  White. 
The  Epoch  of  Reform.  1830-1850.    By  Justin  Macarthy- 


THE 


FIRST  TWO  STUARTS 


AND  THE 


PURITAN  REVOLUTION 


1603  1660 


BY 

SAMUEL  RAWSON  GARDINER 

LATK  STUDENT  OF  CHRIST  CHURCH, 
CORRESPONDING  MEMBER  OF  THE  MASSACHUSETTS  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY, 
LECTURER  ON  MODERN  HISTORY  AT  KING's  COLLEGE,  LONDON. 


WITH  FOUR  MAPS 


NEW  YORK 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 
1898 


Q-  T 

cS  ' 
or 

PREFACE. 

un 
op 

o 

^  The  present  volume  is  a  companion  to  the  one  on 
'^^  the  Thirty  Years'  War/'  and  it  has  therefore  been 
unnecessary  to  break  the  course  of  the  narrative  by 
constant  references  to  events  passing  on  the  Conti- 
nent, which  will  be  easily  brought  before  the  reader 
who  consults  the  chronological  contents  at  the  begin- 
ning  of  the  two  books. 

In  England,  happier  than  France  or  Germany,  the 
problem  of  religious  liberty  was  worked  out  in  ciose 
connection  with  the  problem  of  parliamentary  govern- 
ment. England  did  not,  even  temporarily,  cease  to 
be  a  nation,  as  Germany  did;  nor  did  it,  like  France, 
surrender  its  power  to  control  events  into  the  hands 
:  of  a  single  man.  The  interest  of  its  history  in  the 
;  seventeenth  century  lies  in  the  efforts  made  to  secure 
a  double  object — the  control  of  the  nation  over  its  own 
destinies,  and  the  liberty  of  the  public  expression  of 
thought,  without  which  parliamentary  government  is 
only  a  refined  form  of  tyranny. 

The  present  volume  only  professes  to  recount  a  part 


vi 


Preface, 


of  this  struggle.  The  epoch  comes  to  its  proper  end 
in  the  volume  which  is  to  follow  it  in  the  series.  Even 
of  this  first  part,  too,  I  can  only  profess  to  tell  a  por- 
tion from  the  results  of  personal  investigation.  After 
the  year  1634  I  have  to  depend  upon  the  researches 
of  others,  and  I  have  very  little  doubt  that  in  many 
cases  the  opinions  expressed  would  be  modified  by 
fuller  knowledge,  and  that  even  the  facts  would  turn 
out  not  to  be  altogether  in  accordance  with  my  state- 
ments. 

Those  who  wish  to  consult  histories  on  a  larger 
scale,  will  find  by  far  the  best  general  history  of  the 
period  in  Ranke's     History  of  England  principally 
in  the  Seventeenth  Century,"  which  has  recently  been 
translated.  In  even  greater  detail  are  Mr.  Spedding's 
Letters  and  Life  of  Lord  Bacon,"  Mr.  Forster's 
Life  of  Sir  John  Eliot,"  his  essays  on    The  Grand 
Remonstrance,"  and  the  ^ ^Arrest  of  the  Five  Mem- 
bers," Professor  Masson's  ''Life  of  Milton,"  Mr. 
Sanford's  ^'  Studies  of  the  Great  Rebellion,"  and  Mr. 
Carlyle's  "  Letters  and  Speeches  of  Oliver  Cromwell." 
Those  who  care  to  see  what  I  may  have  to  say  on  the 
earlier  part  of  the  period  will  find  in  three  books — 
''A  History  of  England  from  the  Accession  of  James 
I.  to  the  Disgrace  of  Chief  Justice  Coke;"  ''Prince 
Charles  and  the  Spanish  Marriage  ;"  and  "A  History 
of  England  under  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  and 
Charles  L" — a  connected  history  from  1603  to  1628, 
which  will,  I  hope,  be  carried  on  further,  before  any 
unreasonably  long  time  elapses. 


Preface. 


vii 


The  maps  have  been  constructed  from  Clarendon 
and  other  familiar  sources,  and,  though  they  may  be 
incorrect  in  some  points,  I  hope  they  will  give  a 
clearer  idea  of  the  course  of  the  war  than  is  to  be 
gathered  from  any  written  narrative.  The  first  will 
show  how  far  the  statement  is  true  that  the  wealthiest 
portion  of  England  attached  itself  to  the  Parliament, 
and  brings  out  distinctly  the  enormous  comparative 
wealth  of  London.  The  calculations  on  which  it  is 
founded  are  derived  from  a  statement  in  Rushworth, 
corrected  in  the  instance  of  the  County  of  Durham, 
from  the  original  entry  in  the  Privy  Council  Register. 
The  second  map  may  be  said  to  express  the  natural 
strength  of  the  King's  party  ;  for,  though  Oxford  was 
not  held  by  him  at  the  actual  commencement  of  the 
war,  it  took  his  side  too  vigorously  to  be  counted  as 
a  mere  enforced  accession  of  strength.  The  third 
map  shows  the  King's  fortunes  at  their  highest  point, 
just  before  the  Scottish  army  invaded  England,  and 
the  fourth  gives  the  position  just  before  the  New 
Model  army  set  out  to  combat  the  King. 

The  dates,  unlike  those  in  the  volume  on  ^^The 
Thirty  Years'  War,"  are  given  according  to  the  old 
style. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  PURITANS  AND  THE  HOUSE  OF  COMMONS^ 
Section  I. — Reforvzers  and  Puritans. 

The  English  Reformation  the  work  of  two  classes  of  men,  wh( 
may  be  called  Reformers  and  Puritans 

The  former  were  favored  by  Elizabeth  , 

Especially  as  Puritanism  tended  to  Presbyterianism  . 

General  desire  for  compromise  at  the  close  of  Elizabeth's 
reign  ....... 

Tolerant  character  of  the  literature  of  the  time — Hooker 
Bacon,  Shakespeare  ..... 

Why  was  there,  after  all,  a  Puritan  Revolution  ? 

Section  \\—The  Tudor  Monarchy. 

Causes  of  revolutions  ...... 

Modern  constitutional  arrangements  aim  at  preventing  revo- 
lutions ....... 

Circumstances  which  had  modified  the  mediseval  constitution 
in  favor  of  the  Royal  power     .  .  .  , 

Instruments  of  the  Royal  power — the  Court  of  Star  Chamber, 
the  Court  of  High  Commission 

Elizabeth  the  centre  of  the  national  life 

Her  dependence  on  popular  support  .... 


X 


Contents, 


Section  III. —  The  Hampton  Court  CoJiference  and  the  proposed 
Uyiion  with  Scotland. 

PAGE 


1603 

Accession  of  James  I.  . 

13 

1604 

The  Hampton  Court  Conference 

13 

The  tloiise  of  Commons  for  concession  to  the  Puri- 

tans  ....... 

15 

The  canons  of  1604  ..... 

16 

I6II 

Abbot,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  relaxes  their  strict- 

ness in  execution  ..... 

16 

1607 

The  Commons  receive  coolly  the  King's  proposal  for  a 

union  with  Scotland  ..... 

17 

The  Judges   declare  all   Scotchmen  born  since  the 

King's  accession  to  the  English  throne  to  be  natu- 

ralized in  England  ..... 

17 

Section  IV. —  The  Nezv  Impositions  and  the  Great  Contract. 

1606 

James'  revenue  does  not  meet  his  expenditure 

17 

The  Judgment  on  Bate's  case  .... 

18 

1608 

The  New  Impositions  ..... 

19 

1610 

The  Great  Contract  ..... 

19 

Breach  between  the  King  and  his  first  Parliament 

19 

1614 

The  Addled  Parhament  ..... 

21 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  SPANISH  ALLIANCE. 

Section  I. —  Gunpowder  Plot. 

1603 

Condition  of  the  Roman  Catholics 

21 

James  promises  to  relieve  them,  but  does  not  keep  his 

word  ....... 

22 

1604 

Formation  of  the  Gunpowder  Plot 

22 

1605 

The  plot  betrayed  ..... 

23 

Seizure  and  execution  of  the  conspirators 

23 

Contents. 


XI 


Section  II. — James  /.  and  Spain. 

PAGB 

1606    Spaniards  unpopular  in  England  .  .  .24 

161 1  James  proposes  to  marry  his  son  to  a  Spanish  Infanta  .  24 
1 617    Raleigh's  voyage  to  Guiana        .  .  .  .25 

1613    The  Earl  of  Somerset  becomes  James'  favorite  .  26 

1615  He  is  convicted  of  murder,  and  succeeded  by  George 

Villiers  in  the  King's  favor     ,  .  .  .26 

1616  View  taken  by  James  of  his  authority    .  .  .28 

1617  His  contempt  of  popularity  leads  him  to  overlook  the 

dangers  of  a  Spanish  marriage  .  ,  -30 

Section  III. —  The  Spaniards  in  the  Palatinate. 

1618  Outbreak  of  a  revolution  in  Bohemia     .  .  •  3° 

1619  James'  son-in-law  Frederick  is  chosen  King  of  Bohemia  31 

1620  In  spite  of  the  arrival  of  English  volunteers,  the  Palati- 

nate is  invaded  by  the  Spaniards,  and  Frederick  is 
ejected  from  Bohemia  .  .  .  .  '32 

1621  Meeting  of  the  third  Parliament  of  the  reign     .  .  32 
The  Commons  attack  the  monopolies     .           .  -33 
And  proceed  to  accuse  Lord  Chancellor  Bacon  of  cor- 
ruption    .....          .          .  34 

His  sentence        .  .  .  .  .  •  3^ 

Revival,  though  in  an  incomplete  form,  of  the  prac- 
tice of  impeachment       .  .  .  .  •  3^ 

Section  IV. —  The  Loss  of  the  Palatinate. 

1621  The  Commons  declare  their  resolution  to  support  the 

King  in  defending  the  Palatinate        .  .  -37 

Digby,  sent  to  Vienna  to  negotiate  a  peace,  fails  to  stop 
the  progress  of  hostilities,  and  the  King  calls  upon 
Parliament  to  supply  him  with  money  to  carry  on  the 
war.    The  Commons,  however,  wish  him  to  break 
with  Spain        .  .  .  .  .  .38 

They  also  ask  that  he  shall  marry  his  son  to  a  Protes- 
tant princess.  James  takes  umbrage  at  this,  and  dis- 
solves Parliament         .  ,  .  .  .39 

1622  Through  want  of  money  James  is  unable  to  support  his 

son-in-law,  and  the  Palatinate  is  lost  .  .  .40 


XII 


Contents. 


Section  V. —  The  Journey  to  Madrid, 

PAGE 

1623  Prince  Charles,  together  with  Buckingham,  goes  to 
Madrid  to  conclude  his  marriage  with  the  Infanta 
Maria,  and  to  urge  the  Spaniards  to  procure  the 
restitution  of  the  Palatinate.    .  .  .  .41 

The  Spaniards  throw  difficulties  in  his  way       ,  .  42 

The  marriage  treaty  is,  however,  signed;  but  when 
Charles  finds  that  he  will  not  be  allowed  to  bring  his 
bride  home  at  once,  and  that  the  Spaniards  will  not 
go  to  war  to  recover  the  Palatinate  for  his  brother- 
in-law,  he  returns  to  England.  .  .  •44 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  ASCENDENCY   OF  BUCKINGHAM. 
Section  I. —  The  last  Parliament  of  James  I. 

1624  James  summons  Parliament,  and  agrees  to  break  with 

Spain     .  .  .  .  .  .  .46 

But  the  declaration  of  war  is  postponed,  in  order  to  give 

time  for  negotiation  with  France  and  the  German 

Protestants       .  .  .  .  .  '47 

Lord-Treasurer  Middlesex  is  impeached  .  .  48 

A  marriage  treaty  is  agreed  to  between  Prince  Charles 

and  the  French  Princess  Henrietta  Maria     .  .  48 

1625  Mansfield's  expedition  sent  to  recover  the  Palatinate 

ends  in  failure  .  .  .  .  .  '49 

Death  of  James  I.  .  .  .  .  '49 

Section  II. —  The  first  Parliament  of  Charles  I. 

Charles,  in  order  to  carry  on  the  war  for  the  recovery 
of  the  Palatinate,  summons  Parliament,  which  fails 


to  support  him  through  distrust  of  Buckingham       .  50 

He  adjourns  Parliament  to  Oxford,  and  then  dissolves  it  51 

Sends  a  fleet  to  Cadiz,  which  fails  to  do  anything        .  52 

Buckingham's  diplomatic  mission  to  Holland    .  .  53 


Contents. 


XIII 


Section  III. —  The  Impeachment  of  Buckingham,  aitd  the  Expedi- 
tion to  Rhe, 

PAGE 

Revolt  of  Rochelle  against  Louis  XIII.,  who  borrows 
English  ships  to  overpower  it  .  .  .  -54 

1626  Charles'  second  Parliament  meets,  and  impeaches  Buck- 

ingham .  .  .  .  .  .  .56 

Charles  dissolves  it,  and  demands  a  free  gift,  and  then 

a  forced  loan    .  .  .  .  .  .56 

War  breaks  out  between  England  and  France  .  .  57 

1627  Buckingham  leads  an  army  to  Rh6,  and  fails    .  .58 

Section  IV. —  The  Petition  of  Right  and  the  Assassination  of 
Buckingham. 

1628  Charles  summons  a  third  Parliament     .       ,  .  .59 
The  Petition  of  Right.    .  .  .  .  .60 

After  the  Parliament  is  prorogued  Buckingham  takes  the 

command  of  an  expeditibn  for  the  reUef  of  Rochelle  62 
But  is  assassinated  at  Portsmouth         .  *  '63 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  PERSONAL  GOVERNMENT  OF  CHARLES  I. 
Section  I. —  Taxation  and  Religion. 
Dispute  about  tonnage  and  poundage  referred  to  Parlia- 


ment    .  .  .  .  .  .  .64 

Religious  difficulties        .  .  .  .  .65 

The  King's  declaration  on  the  Articles  .  .  .67 

Section  II. —  The  Breach  between  the  King  and  the  Commons. 
1629    The  Commons  postpone  the  subject  of  tonnage  and 

poundage         .  .  .  .  .  .68 

They  take  firm  ground  against  religious  innovations    .  69 
Summon  the  custom-house  officers  to  answer  for  seizing 
a  member's  goods       .  .  .  .  •  7^ 

Tumult  in  the  House      .  .  .  .  .71 

Parliament  dissolved       .  .  .  .  .72 

Punishment  of  Chambers,  and  imprisonment  and  death 
of  Eliot  .  .  .  .  .  .  .72 


XIV 


Contents. 


Section  III. — Beginnings  of  Unparliamentary  Government. 

PAGE 

1629  Constitutional  question  raised    .  .  ,  •74 
Charles'  ministers — Weston,  Laud,  and  Wentworth     .  76 

Section  IV. — Ecclesiastical  Parties. 

1630  Star  Chamber  sentences  .  .  ,  ,  .80 
Laud  enforces  conformity  to  the  Prayer  Book  .  .81 

1632  Contrast  between  George  Herbert  and  Richard  Sibbes  .  82 
■I '^33    The  feoffees  for  impropriations  .  ,  .  .84 

The  estrangement  between  the  two  parties  not  yet  com- 
plete    .  ,  .  .  .  .  .85 

Section  V. — New  England. 

1608    Emigration  of  a  Separatist  congregation  to  Holland  85 

The  colony  of  Virginia            *          .          .  .86 

1620    The  voyage  of  the  "  Mayflower  "            *          .  86 

1633  Religious  character  of  the  New  England  settlers  .  87 


CHAPTER  V. 
THE  REIGN  OF  THOROUGH. 
Section  I. — General  Enforcement  of  Conformity. 

1633  Laud  becomes  Archbishop  of  Canterbury        .  .  88 
Gives  offence  by  the  issue  of  the  Declaration  of  Sports, 

and  by  removing  the  Communion  tables  to  the  east 
end  of  the  churches     .  .  .  .  .88 

1034    Prynne  punished  by  tlie  Star  Chamber  for  the  publica- 
tion of  "  Histriomastix "         .  .  .  .90 
The  Inns  of  Court  Masque,  and  Milton's    Comus  "    .  91 
1634-6  The  metropolitical  visitations     .          .  .  •93 
Section  II. — Ship-money. 

1634  Forest  courts  held  .  .  .  .  -94 
The  first  ship-money  writ  issued  to  the  port  towns       .  93 

1635  The  second  ship-money  writ  issued  to  the  whole  of 

England  .  .  .  .  ••  '95 

1637  The  judges  declare  it  to  be  legal,  but  Hampden  resists 

the  payment      .  .  ,  .  .  .96 

1638  Judgment  given  against  him       .  .  .  .98 

4 


Contents, 


XV 


Section  III. — Prynne,  Bastwick,  a?td  Burton. 


PAGE 

1637  Change  of  feeling  since  1634  .  .  .  .98 
Sentences  of  Prynne,  Bastwick,  and  Burton  .  .  98 
General  sympathy  with  the  sufferers       .          .          *  99 

1638  Milton's  "Lycidas"       .  .  .  .  '99 

Section  IV. —  Wentworth  in  Ireland. 
1603    State  of  Ireland  at  the  accession  of  James  I.     •  .  loi 

1610    The  plantation  of  Ulster  .....  102 

1633  Arrival  of  Wentworth  to  be  Lord-Deputy        .  .  103 

1634  He  holds  a  Parliament  .  *  .  .  .  103 
His  activity         ......  104 

1635  He  proposes  to  colonize  Connaught      .  .  .  105 


CHAPTER  VI. 

RESISTANCE  IN  SCOTLAND  AND  ENGLAND. 
Section  I. — The  Downfall  of  Episcopacy  in  Scotland. 

Episcopacy  in  Scotland  .  .  .  .  106 

1637  Introduction  of  the  new  Prayer  Book,  followed  by  a  riot  107 

1638  The  Covenant  is  taken,  and  the  General  Assembly 

meets  at  Glasgow       .....  108 
It  throws  off  the  authority  of  the  King,  and  abolishes 
episcopacy  .....  109 

Section  II. —  The  Bishops   Wars  and  the  Short  Parliament, 

1639  Probability  that  the  resistance  in  Scotland  would  be 

followed  by  resistance  in  England    .  .  .111 

The  first  war  with  Scotland  followed  by  an  agreement  112 

1640  The  Short  Parliament  summoned  and  dissolved  .  112 
Position  taken  by  Wentworth  at  Court  .  .113 
The  second  war  with  Scotland  ends  in  the  King's 

defeat  and  necessitates  the  calling  of  a  Parliament  .  114 


XVI 


Contents. 


Section   III. —  The  Meeting  of  the  Long  Parliament  and  the 
Executiofi  of  Strafford. 

PAGE 

1640  The  Long  Parliament  meets  ,  .  .  •  nS 
Impeachment  of  Strafford       .          .          .          •  115 

1641  The  impeachment  is  turned  into  an  attainder  .  .117 
His  execution     .  .  .  .  .      *    .  117 

Section  IY. — Demands  of  the  Commons. 
1641    The  struggle  for  supremacy  between  the  King  and  the 
House  of  Commons  leads  to  a  diminution  of  the 
powers  of  the  Crown  .  .  .  .  .118 

The  Scots  return  home  .  .  .  .  .119 

Church  questions  remain  to  be  solved  .  .  .120 

The  Moderates  led  by  Falkland  and  Hyde  .  .121 
Their  weakness  .  .  •  .  .  .122 

Section  V. —  The  Grand  Refno?tstrance  and  the  Rupture  with  the 
King. 

1641  Whilst  the  King  is  in  Scotland  news  arrives  of  an  Irish 

insurrection     .  .  .  .  .  .124 

Excitement  in  England  .  ,  .  .  .125 

The  Grand  Remonstrance  drawn  up  and  voted  .  126 

1642  Impeachment  of  members  of  the  House  by  the  King  .  127 
The  King  attempts  to  seize  them  .  .  .  128 
The  Commons  take  refuge  in  the  City,  and  demand 

the  control  of  the  militia        .  .  .  .129 


CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  DOWNFALL  OF  ROYALTY, 
Section  I. —  The  Beginning  of  the  Civil  War. 


1642    The  Commons  conservative  in  feehng  .          .  .130 

Various  elements  of  the  King's  army  .          .  •  13^ 

The  King  sets  up  his  standard  at  Nottingham  .  .132 

Indecisive  battle  fought  at  Edgehill     •          .  .  133 

The  King  turns  back  from  Brentford   .           .  134 


Contents. 


XVII 


PAGE 


Rise  of  Cromwell  .  .  .  .  •  ^35 

1643  The  King  gains  ground,  but  fails  to  take  Gloucester  .  136 
Death  of  Falkland  at  the  first  battle  of  Newbury        .  136 

Section  II. — Pj-esbyterians  and  Independents. 

Meeting  of  the  Westminster  Assembly.  The  Scots 
invited  to  join  their  forces  to  those  of  the  English 
Parliament      ......  136 

The  Covenant  taken^  and  Presbyterianism  adopted  in 
England         ......  137 

Death  of  Pym    ......  138 

1644  Execution  of  Laud  .  *  .  .  .  139 
Rising  strife  between  Presbyterians  and  Independents  139 
Death  of  Chillingworth  ....  140 
Spread  of  ideas  favorable  to  liberty  of  conscience  and 

speech  ......  141 

Section  III. — Marston  Moor  and  Naseby, 
1643    Cromwell's  success       .....  143 

The  Scotch  cross  the  border,  and,  in  conjunction  with 
Cromwell  and  Fairfax,  defeat  the  Royalists  at  Mars- 
ton  Moor       ......  144 

Essex's  infantry  surrender  to  the  King  in  Cornwall    .  145 
The  second  battle  of  Newbury  leads  to  a  quarrel  be  - 
tween  Cromwell  and  the  Earl  of  Manchester         .  145 

1645  The  Self-denying  Ordinance  .  .  .  .146 
Argument  in  favor  of  liberty  in  Milton's  "  Areopagitica"  146 
Formation  of  the  New  Model  ....  148 
Montrose  in  Scotland  .  .  .  .  .148 
Defeat  of  the  King  at  Naseby,  and  of  Montrose  at 

Philiphaugh    .  .  *  .  .  .149 

Section  IV. —  The  Army  and  the  Parliament. 
^646    The  King  takes  refuge  with  the  Scots  .  .  .150 

In  spite  of  the  feeling  of  the  army  in  favor  of  toleration, 
Parliament  rnakes  proposals  to  the  King  which  offer 
no  guarantees  for  liberty  of  opinion  ,  .  .  151 

1647    Charles,  being  surrendered  by  the  Scots  to  the  Parlia- 
ment, is  lodged  at  Holmby  House  .  .  .  152 
B 


XVIII 


Contents, 


PAGE 

He  is  carried  off  to  the  army,  which  overpowers  the 
opposition  to  Parliament,  excluding  eleven  members 
by  force  ......  153 

The  army  makes  proposals  to  the  King  .  .  155 

Charles  flies  to  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  is  lodged  at 
Carisbrooke  Castle     .  .  .  .  •  i55 

Section  V. —  The  Second  Civil   War  and  the  Execution  of  tht 
King. 

1647  Dissatisfaction  of  the  Scots  at  the  predominance  of  the 

army   .......  156 

1648  The  news  that  a  Scottish  invasion  is  pending  exasper- 

ates the  English  army  .  .  .  .156 

The  Scots  are  defeated  by  Cromwell  at  Preston         .  157 
The  army  secures  the  person  of  the  King,  bringing  him 
to  Hurst  Castle ;  they  also  overpower  the  House  of 
Commons  by  Pride's  Purge  ....  158 

1649  Trial  and  execution  of  the  King  .  .  .  160 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  COMMONWEALTH. 
Section  I. —  Cromwell' s  Last  Victories. 
Nature  of  the  procedings  against  the  King 
Establishment  of  a  Commonwealth 
Cromwell  subdues  Ireland  .... 

1650  Montrose  lands  in  Scotland,  is  taken  and  executed  . 
Charles  II.  proclaimed  in  Scotland 

Cromwell  defeats  the  Scots  at  Dunbar 

1651  He  again  defeats  them  at  Worcester  . 

Charles  II.  escapes  to  France  .... 

Section  II.— The  Dissolution  of  the  Long  Parliament. 


The  negative  work  of  the  Revolution  accomplished  .  166 
Ideas  of  the  leaders  of  the  Commonwealth      .  .  167 

1652    Their  scheme  for  a  new  Parliament  objected  to  by 

Cromwell       .  ,  ,  .  .  .167 


161 
162 

162 
163 
164 
165 
165 
166 


Contents.  xix 

PAG^ 

The  Navigation  Act  is  followed  by  a  war  with  the  Dutch  i68 

Corruption  in  Parliament          ....  169 

1653  The  Long  Parliament  dissolved  by  Cromwell  .  .  170 
Section  III. —  The  Assembly  of  Nominees. 

1653    Meeting  of  the  Assembly  of  Nominees          .          .  171 

It  resigns  its  powers  into  Cromwell's  hands     .          .  172 


CHAPTER  IX. 
OLIVER'S  PROTECTORATE. 
Section  I. —  Oliver  s  First  Parliament. 
Constitutional  difficulties  of  the  situation         .  .  173 

Oliver  Cromwell  declared  Protector  by  the  Instrument 
of  Government  .....  174 

1654    Character  of  Oliver's  Government       .  .  .  175 

Meeting  of  Parliament,  which  begins  by  questioning 


the  Protector's  authority       .  .  ,  .176 


1655 

Oliver  dissolves  the  Parliament 

178 

S EC  TION  II. —  The  Major-  Generals. 

1655 

Limits  of  the  toleration  granted  by  Oliver 

178 

After  a  Royalist  rising,  major-generals  are  appointed 

to  place  England  under  military  control 

180 

Suppression  of  Episcopalian  worship  . 

181 

Oliver  allies  himself  with  France  against  Spain 

181 

Milton's  sonnet  on  the  "  Massacre  of  the  Vaudois  "  . 

i8a 

War  with  Spain            .          ,          .          .  . 

183 

Section  III. —  Oliver  s  Second  Parliament. 

1656 

Oliver  summons  his  second  Parliament 

183 

Begins  by  excluding  members  whom  he  distrusts 

185 

1657 

The  Petition  and  Advice  .... 

186 

Oliver  refuses  the  title  of  King  .... 

186 

1658 

Dissolution  of  the  second  Parliament  . 

187 

Section  IV. — Death  of  Oliver, 

1658 

Oliver's  system  could  not  last  .... 

188 

Military  and  naval  successes  .... 

189 

Kis  death  ...... 

190 

XX 


Contents. 


PAOB 

CHAPTER  X. 

END  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 
Section  \.— Anarchy. 

1658  The  Puritan  revolution  drawing  to  a  close      .  .191 
Richard  Cromwell  assumes  the  Protectorate  and  sum- 
mons a  new  Parliament         ....  192 

1659  The  Parh'ament  is  dissolved,  and  the  Protector  ejected 

by  the  army    ......  193 

The  Rump,  or  survivors  of  the  Long  Parliament,  re- 
stored by  the  army     .....  193 

The  army  quarrels  with  the  Rump  and  drives  it  out, 
afterwards  again  restoring  it  .  .  .  .  194 

Section  11. —  The  Restoration, 

1660  Monk  crosses  the  border  with  the  army  from  Scotland, 

and  is  joined  by  Fairfax  at  York       .          .          •  19.^ 
He  reaches  London,  and  declares  for  a  free  Parliament  196 
The  Long  Parliament  comes  to  an  end,  a  new  Parlia- 
ment meets,  and  restores  Charles  H.           .          .  197 

Section  nL-'  -7">^^  Ecclesiastical  Settlement  of  the  Restoration. 

1660  Principles  of  the  Restoration  ....  198 
1660-5  Acts  passed  against  the  Nonconformists,  who  begin  to 

be  called  Dissenters  .  ,  .  .  .  199 

1661  The  Corporation  Act     .....  200 

The  doctrine  of  non-resistance  adopted  by  Parliament  200 

1667-71    Milton's  "Paradise  Lost"  "Paradise  Regained"  201 

And  "  Samson  Agonistes  "    ....  204 
Section  IV. —  The  Revival  of  Parliamentary  Opposition, 

1 66 1    The  Parliamentary  view  of  the  Constitution    .  ,  205 

1664    Charles'  financial  difficulties,  and  war  with  the  Dutch  206 

1667    Fall  of  Lord  Chancellor  Clarendon     .  .  ,  207 

Section  V. — Revival  of  the  Idea  of  Toleration. 

1667  The  policy  of  Toleration  adopted  by  the  King          .  5208 
He  wishes  to  include  Roman  Catholics          .          .  208 

1668  The  Triple  Alliance      .....  209 


Contents. 


XXI 


PAGE 

1670    The  Treaty  of  Dover    .  .  ,  .  .210 

1672  The  Declaration  of  Indulgence  .  .  .  210 

1673  The  declaration  withdrawn      ....  210 
The  Test  Act  followed  by  a  Bill  for  the  rehef  of  Dis- 
senters, which  fails  to  pass  the  Lords  .  .211 

Progress  of  Toleration  .  .  .  .  .211 

Section  Yl.  —  The  Revolution  ^7/1688. 
1688    Political  results  of  the  Revolution       .  ,  .212 

Future  prospects  .  .  o  o  .214 


! 


MAPS, 


1.  England  and  Wales— showing  the  incidence  of  Ship-money 

in  1636        .  .  .  .  .     To  face  title  pagt 

2.  England  and  Wales — showing  the  districts  held  by  the  King 

and  the  Parliament  on  January  i,  1643      .     To  face  page  134 

3.  England  and  Wales — showing  the  districts  held  by  the  King 

and  the  Parliament  on  January  i,  1644     .     To  face  page  144 

4.  England  and  Wales — showing  the  districts  held  by  the  King 

and  the  Parliament  on  May  i,  1645     .     .     To  face  page  149 


i 


THE  FIRST  TWO  STUARTS 

AND  THE 

PURITAN  REVOLUTION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  PURITANS  AND  THE   HOUSE  OF  COMMONS. 

Section  I. — Reformers  and  Puritam. 

The  English  Reformation  was  brought  about,  as  every 
other  great  change  is  brought  about,  by  the  co-opera- 
tion of  two   classes   of  men  :  the   men  ^  ^ 

g  I.    Two  par- 

who  are,  on  the  whole,  content  with  the  ties  to  the 
principles  by  which  they  have  hitherto  formation, 
guided  their  lives,  though  they  think  that  some  changes 
ought  to  be  made  in  matters  of  detail ;  and  those  who 
start  upon  an  entirely  new  principle,  and  who  strive  to 
realize  an  ideal  society  which  commends  itself  to  their 
own  minds.  They  answer,  in  short,  to  the  Whigs  and  Ra- 
dicals of  modern  political  life,  whilst  the  Conservatives 
are  represented  by  a  third  class  averse  from  all  change 
whatever. 

The  first  class— the  Reformers,  as  we  may  call  them 

who,  on  the  whole,  controlled  the  movement, 

•  1        1111       1  ?  2,  The  Re- 

were  content  with  gradual  and  slow  change,  formers. 


2         Puritans  and  House  of  Commons.   155 8-1603. 


They  were  ready  to  examine  every  practice  and  doc- 
trine by  the  test  of  Scripture  and  the  custom  of  the  ear- 
ly Church,  but  they  were  willing  to  retain  all  that  could 
not  be  so  shown  to  be  worthy  of  rejection.  In  this  way 
they  held  that  the  white  vestment  of  the  minister,  the 
kneeling  attitude  of  the  congregation  at  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Communion,  the  observation  of  days  set 
apart  for  fast  and  festival,  were  commendable  obser- 
vances reaching  the  heart  through  the  medium  of  the 
senses,  and  encouraging  a  habit  of  devotion  by  the  use 
of  bodily  action. 

Alongside  of  these  men  were  others  who  cared  no- 
thing for  ancient  tradition  or  outward  observances,  and 
^  3.  The  who  regarded  those  which  had  been  re- 
Puntans.  taiued  as  rags  and  relics  of  Popery.  During 
their  exile  in  the  reign  of  Mary,  the  Puritans,  as  they 
afterwards  came  to  be  called,  learned  from  the  disciples 
of  Calvin,  the  great  French  teacher  of  Geneva,  a  special 
system  of  doctrine  and  discipline ;  a  system  in  which  the 
heart  and  soul  were  sustained  by  the  intellectual  appre- 
ciation of  theological  truths,  rather  than  by  the  outward 
actions  of  the  body. 

The  Puritans  were  not  likely  to  find  a  friend  in  Eliza- 
beth, when,  after  her  sister's  death,  she  mounted  the 
^  Ei  zabeth'  ^^^^^^  take  up  the  conflict  which  her  fa- 
feaning  against  ther  had  Waged  before  her.  She  herself 
t  e  uriians.  jQyed  the  old  forms,  and  scandalized  her 
bishops  by  retaining  the  crucifix  in  her  private  chapel 
But  she  had  another  reason  for  bearing  hardly  on  the 
Puritans.  Her  strength  lay  in  her  headship  of  the  na- 
tional cause.  She  detested  the  Pope,  not  so  much  be- 
cause he  taught  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  and 
worshipped  images,  as  because  he  claimed  to  meddle 
with  the  rules  and  laws  to  be  observed  by  Englishmen. 


155S-1603.      Reformers  and  Puriians. 


3 


She  was  anxious  to  win  over  as  many  as  possible  of 
those  whose  behef  was  still  the  same  as  that  of  their  fa- 
thers, and  she  therefore  was  glad  to  retain  such  ceremo- 
nies as  might  be  welcome  to  this  numerous  class  of  her 
subjects. 

If  Elizabeth  had  reasons  of  her  own  for  maintaining 
the  ceremonial  forms  of  the  Church,  she  had  also  rea- 
sons of  her  own  for  maintaining  its  Episcopal  organiza- 
tion.   The  existence  of  bishops  has  been  „ 

25.  Eliza- 
defended  by  ecclesiastical  writers  on  various  beth's  support 

grounds;  but  it  was  not  by  ecclesiastical  ^i^^^^op^^^y- 
reasoning  that  Elizabeth  was  convinced.  She  cared  very 
little  whether  bishops  were  or  were  not  the  successors  of 
the  Apostles.  She  cared  very  much  that  they  were  ap- 
pointed by  herself.  They  were  instruments  for  keeping 
the  clergy  in  order.  Not  that  they  were  mere  servile 
tools.  Many  of  them  were  high-minded,  devoted  men, 
serving  the  queen  all  the  better  because  they  believed 
that  they  were  serving  God  at  the  same  time. 

To  the  thoroughgoing  Puritan  such  a  system  was 
doubly  obnoxious.  With  Calvin's  aid  he  looked  into 
his  Bible,  and  he  found  nothing  there  of  the  ,    ^  . 

.  g  6.  Puritan 

rule  of  the  queen  over  the  beliefs  and  wor-  opposition  to 
ship  of  Christians.  Presbyterianisin,  so  at  ^P^^'^^P^^y- 
least  the  most  energetic  Puritans  held,  was  the  divinely 
appointed  model  of  church  government  for  all  time. 
The  clergy,  assisted  by  lay  elders  chosen  out  of  the  con- 
gregation, were  to  be  supreme  over  all  ecclesiastical 
matters. 

Proud  of  her  ancient  crown,  proud  of  her  advocacy 
of  the  rights  of  the  laity  against  Presbyter  and  Pope 
ahke,  Elizabeth  sternly  resisted  the  Puritan 
flood.    Year  after  year  the  tide,  in  spite  of  i7-  .Growth  of 

••^  Puritanism 

all  her  efforts,  seemed  to  mount.   As  long 


4         Puritans  and  House  of  Commons.  15 58- 1603. 


as  the  struggle  with  Rome  was  hot,  as  long  as  plots  for 
the  assassination  of  the  queen  were  matters  of  daily 
talk,  and  the  presence  of  a  Spanish  fleet  in  English  har- 
bors, and  of  Spanish  veterans  upon  English  soil,  was 
regarded  as  within  the  limits  of  possibility,  so  long  large 
numbers  of  men  who  were  in  earnest  in  the  quarrel  at- 
tached themselves  to  that  form  of  Protestantism  v/hich 
was  most  opposed  to  the  system  which  they  combated. 

During  the  last  years  of  Elizabeth's  reign  the  waves 
of  external  conflict  lulled  themselves  to  sleep.  When 
once  the  Armada  had  been  shattered  by 

^  8.  Pacific  ten-  ^ 

dencies  in  Eng-  English  cannon-shot  and  by  the  winds  of 
heaven,  a  calmer,  milder  spirit  prevailed 
amongst  the  conquerors.  To  combat  Spain  and  the  Pope 
ceased  to  be  the  first  thought  of  Englishmen.  The 
thought  of  internal  reforms,  of  wise  guidance  of  the  na- 
tion which  had  been  saved,  came  into  the  foremost 
place.  Each  party  had  learned  something  from  the 
other.  If  the  bishops  continued  to  oppose  Calvin's  sys- 
tem of  church  government,  they  gave  their  warm  ad- 
herence to  his  theology.  Large  numbers  of  Puritans 
abandoned  their  Presbyterian  theories,  and  were  ready 
to  submit  to  the  Episcopal  constitution,  if  only  they  could 
be  allowed  to  omit  certain  ceremonies  which  they  re- 
garded as  superstitious,  of  which  the  use  of  the  surplice 
was  the  most  important. 

These  prognostics  of  peace  with  which  Elizabeth's  reign 
closed  were  not  confined  to  England.  An  observer  of 
p  ^  ^  the  course  of  continental  politics  might 
dencies  on  the  have  been  excused  for  thinking  that  the 
Continent.  days  of  rcligious  wars  were  drawing  to  an 
end.  In  1598  Spain,  by  the  peace  of  Vervins,  had  with- 
drawn from  its  attempt  to  meddle  in  the  affairs  of  France 
and  had  acknowledged  the  legitimacy  of  the  tolerant 


1 5  5  3  - 1 6o3 .    Reformers  and  Puritans. 


5 


monarchy  of  Henry  IV.  The  Dutch  Netherlanders 
were  still  holding  out  in  their  noble  struggle  against 
Spanish  oppression,  and  it  seemed  likely  that  here  too 
Spain  would  retire  exhausted  from  the  contest.  In  Ger- 
many the  existing  settlement  which  assigned  certain 
territories  to  one  religion  or  the  other  had  not  been  seri- 
ously contested.  On  the  whole  the  prospects  of  the 
approach  of  peace  after  the  long  rehgious  wars  were 
brighter  than  they  had  been  for  many  a  weary  year. 

In  England,  a  broad  and  tolerant  disposition  made 
itself  conspicuous  in  the  highest  literature  of  the  day. 
No  theological  controversialist  ever  had  so  ^  To\&- 
wise  a  horror  of  strife  as  Hooker,  the  author  ranee  of  litera- 

^  . .  ,      ture ;  Hooker. 

of  the  Ecclesiastical  Holity,  or  was  so  ready 
to  teach  that  truth  and  wisdom  must  be  sought  in  a  reve- 
rent study  of  spiritual  and  moral  laws,  rather  than  in  any 
form  of  words  which  might  be  upheld  as  a  standard  of 
party.  He  strikes  up  the  swords  of  the  combatants  as 
the  herald  of  peace.  "  This  unhappy  controversy,"  are 
the  very  first  words  which  he  utters,  "  about  the  received 
ceremonies  and  discipline  of  the  Church  of  England, 
which  hath  so  long  time  withdrawn  so  many  of  her 
ministers  from  their  principal  work,  and  employed  their 
studies  in  contentious  oppositions  ;  hath  by  the  unnatural 
growth  and  dangerous  fruits  thereof,  made  known  to  the 
world,  that  it  never  received  blessing  from  the  Father 
of  peace." 

The  voice  of  Hooker  was  echoed  by  the  voice  of 
^acon,  statesman,  philosopher,  essay  writer,  all  in  one. 
Looking^  with  eyes  of  pity  on  the  lot  of  men, 

.    .  .         .   }^    \  ,        ,  g  II.  Bacon. 

striving,  if  so  it  might  be,  to  make  them 
happier  and  wiser  by  act  or  speech  of  his,  he  had  his 
word  of  warning  to  utter  on  this  point  too  :  Therefore," 
he  writes,  "it  is  good  we  return  unto  the  ancient  bands 


6         Puritans  and  House  of  Commons.  1 5  5  8- 1 603 . 


of  unity  in  the  Church  of  God,  which  was,  one  faith,  one 
baptism,  and  not,  one  hierarchy,  one  disciphne,  and  that 
we  observe  the  league  of  Christians,  as  it  is  penned  by 
our  Saviour  Christ ;  which  is  in  substance  of  doctrine  this. 
All  that  is  not  with  us  is  against  us  ;  but  in  things  indif- 
ferent, and  but  of  circumstance  this,  He  that  is  not 
against  us  is  with  us  ...  as  it  is  excellently  alluded  by 
that  father  that  noted  that  Christ's  garment  was  without 
seam,  and  yet  the  Church's  garment  was  of  divers 
colors,  and  thereupon  set  down  for  a  rule.  Let  there  be 
variety  in  the  vesture  but  not  a  rent."  Hooker's  object 
is  different  from  Bacon's  object.  Hooker  counselled  the 
Puritan  to  give  way  to  the  arrangements  of  the  Church. 
Bacon  counselled  that  the  arrangements  of  the  Church 
should  be  modified  to  suit  the  wishes  of  the  Puritan.  But 
the  spirit  of  moderation  was  the  same  in  both. 

One  too  there  was,  who  kept  himself  aloof  from  the 
immediate  questions  of  the   hour,  who  had  nothing 
directly  to  say  about  church  worship  or 
gi2.  Shake-      church  ccrcmonies,  who  was  teaching-  men 

speare.  ^  *^ 

the  infinite  value  of  truth  and  righteousness. 
When  Elizabeth  died  Shakespeare  had  yet  to  do  his 
highest  work,  to  sink  into  the  depths  and  rise  to  the 
heights  of  the  soul  of  man,  till  he  produced  those  perfect 
flowers  of  chastened  calm  forgiveness,  Prospero  and 
Hermione. 

Who  that  looked  around  them  in  the  opening  years 
of  the  17th  century  would  predict  aught  but  the  growth 
of  peace  and  toleration  ?    Whv  it  was  that 

\  13.  Decep-  ^  .  ' 

tive  forecast  the  forccast  was  deceptive  ;  why  there  was 
of  the  future.  ^  Puritan  Revolution  at  all,  it  is  the  object 
of  these  pages  to  tell. 


1 485-1 603.       The  Tudor  Monarchy, 


7 


Section  II. —  The  Tudor  Monarchy. 

Political  institutions,  kings,  parliaments,  or  law-courts 
do  not  come  into  existence  by  accident. 
They  are  there  because  they  have  been  able  9^  ^ 

to  do  some  good  to  the  nation  in  previous 
stages  of  its  history.  As  each  generation  is  sure  to  want 
something  done  which  the  last  generation  did  not  want, 
there  is  always  a  possibility  that  the  persons  set  in 
authority  may  resist  the  change,  or  may  not  be  compe- 
tent to  carry  it  out.  Then  some  alteration  has  to  be  made 
in  the  institutions  under  which  government  is  carried  on  ; 
and  if  this  alteration  is  very  great,  and  is  effected  by  force, 
it  is  called  a  Revolution. 

In  every  government  which  does  not  either  maintain 
itself,  like  an  ancient  Greek  despotism,  by  the  sole  pos- 
session of  arms  amidst  an  unarmed  popula-  ,  ^ 

^2.  Governors 

tion,  or  like  a  modern  Asiatic  despotism,  by  and  govern- 
the  absolute  indifference  of  governors  and 
governed  alike  to  any  change  at  all,  two  things  are  re- 
quisite, if  it  is  to  maintain  its  existence.  In  the  first  place 
there  must  be  some  way  in  which  the  people  who  are  gov- 
erned make  their  rulers  understand  what  sort  of  changes 
they  want,  and  what  sort  of  changes  they  refuse  to  admit. 
In  the  second  place  there  must  be  some  man  or  some  select 
body  of  men  who  have  wisdom  and  practical  skill  to  effect 
the  changes  desired  in  a  right  way.  All  the  popular  applause 
in  the  world  will  not  save  from  ruin  a  foolish  governor  who 
disregards  the  laws  of  nature,  and  the  most  consummate 
wisdom  will  not  save  from  ruin  a  governor  who  tries  to 
force  a  people  to  changes  which  they  detest. 

This  is  true  even  if  there  be  no  constitutional  system 
in  existence  at  all.    In  Russian  history  the  Czar  who 


8 


Puritans  and  House  of  Coninwns.  1 485-1 603, 


does  not  satisfy  his  subjects  is  assassinated. 
^  3.  Modern  con-  ^j^^  object  of  our  modern  constitutional 

stituLionalism.  ^ 

arrangements  is  that  the  influence  of  the 
popular  wishes  and  the  influence  of  practical  ability  in 
the  governors  should  be  brought  to  bear  upon  one 
another  by  argument  and  discussion  and  not  by  violence. 

In  the  Middle  Ages  violence  was  often  appealed  to. 
Edward  II.,  Richard  II.,  Henry  VI.  were  dethroned  and 
,      ,    murdered.    Still  the  rule  was  not  violence 

\  4.  Mediseval 

constitution-  but  agreement.  In  every  department  of  the 
state  the  co-operation  of  the  king  and  his 
officials  with  the  popular  voice  was  regarded  as  the  es- 
sential condition  of  what  our  ancestors  well  called  the 
commonwealth,  the  word  wealth  then  signifying  general 
well-being,  and  not  mere  riches.  King  and  Parliament 
must  join  in  the  making  of  new  laws  and  in  the  raising 
of  new  taxes.  A  judge  appointed  by  the  king  must  join 
with  a  popular  jury  in  the  condemnation  of  a  criminal 
or  in  the  settlement  of  a  quarrel  about  the  rights  of  pro- 
perty. The  king  and  officers  appointed  by  the  king 
commanded  the  armed  force  of  the  nation.  But  the 
armed  force  was  not  a  standing  army  separate  from  the 
people,  but  a  force  composed  of  the  able-bodied  inhabi- 
tants of  the  country  who  would  refuse  to  march  on  an 
unpopular  service. 

Such  in  the  main  was  the  government  of  England  till 
towards  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century.    Then  special 
circumstances  occurred  which  made  it  neces- 
g  5.  Depression  ^^^^  ^^^^  ^j^^  crown  should  be  clothed  for  a 

of  the  nobihty.  ^ 

time  with  extraordinary  powers..  Under  the 
feeble  government  of  Henry  VI.  the  great  and  powerful 
nobility  preyed  upon  the  weakness  of  their  neighbors. 
Juries  were  bribed  or  bullied  by  the  rich  land-owner  to 
give  verdicts  according  to  his  pleasure.    Men  weremur- 


1485-1603.       The  Tudor  Monarchy. 


9 


dered  in  the  public  roads,  and  justice  was  not  to  be  had. 
Peaceful  homes  were  besieged  and  sacked  by  rival 
claimants  to  property.  Legislation  was  decided  not  by 
the  free  vote  of  an  elected  Parhament,  but  by  the  victory 
or  defeat  of  armies.  The  strong  government  of  the 
Yorkist  kings,  succeeded  by  the  far  stronger  government 
of  the  Tudors,  was  the  answer  to  the  national  demand 
that  the  lawless  nobility  should  be  incapacitated  from 
doing  further  mischief.  Henry  VIII.,  whatever  his  moral 
character  may  have  been,  did  the  work  thoroughly,  and 
left  but  little  in  this  way  to  be  accomplished  by  his 
daughter. 

Before  the  depression  of  the  nobility  was  completely 
effected,  the  struggle  with  Rome  was  begun.  Fresh 
powers  were  needed  by  the  crown,  if  it  was 
to  avert  the  risk  of  foreign  invasion,  to  de-  Thestmg- 

°  ^  gle  with  Rome. 

tect  plots  at  home,  and  to  maintain  order 
amongst  a  people  large  numbers  of  which  were  dis- 
affected.   Thus  a  second  reason  was  added  for  allowing 
the  sovereign  to  act  independently  of  those  constitutional 
restraints  which  had  hitherto  counted  for  so  much. 

In  almost  every  department  of  government  the  crown 
was  thus  enabled  to  arrogate  to  itself  powers  unknown 
in  earlier  times.    In  taxation,  though  it  was    ,  , 

§7.  Increasing 

Still  understood  to  be  a  constitutional  prin-  powers  of  the 
ciple  that  Parliament  alone  could  grant 
those  direct  payments  of  money  which  were  called  sub- 
sidies, means  had  been  found  by  which  the  crown  could 
evade  the  control  of  Parliament.  People  were  asked 
sometimes  to  give  money,  sometimes  to  lend  it,  and 
sometimes  the  money  thus  lent  was  not  repaid.  Imposi- 
tions were  also  laid  without  the  consent  of  Parliament 
on  a  few  articles  of  commerce  imported,  though  this  was 
not  done  to  any  great  extent.    On  the  whole,  however, 

g 


lo       Puritans  and  House  of  Commons.  1485-1603. 


Elizabeth  was  much  more  careful  to  avoid  giving  offence 
to  her  subjects  by  irregular  demands  of  money  than  her 
father  and  grandfather  had  been.  The  chief  field  in 
which  the  crown  encroached  upon  the  nation  was  in 
matters  of  judicature.  The  struggle  against  the  nobles 
and  the  struggle  against  the  papacy  each  left  its  mark 
on  the  judicial  system  in  a  court  which  judged  without 
the  intervention  of  a  jury.  The  first  produced  the  Court 
of  Star  Chamber.  The  second  produced  the  Court  of 
High  Commission. 

The  Court  of  Star  Chamber  was  in  Elizabeth's  time 
composed  of  the  whole  of  the  Privy  Council,  together 
o «       ^       with  the  two  Chief  Justices.    Its  rieht  to 

1 8.  The  Court  ^ 

of  Star  Cham-  judge  was  foundcd  partly  on  old  claims  of 
the  Privy  Council,  partly  on  an  act  of  Parlia- 
ment made  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VII. 
It  could  not  adjudge  any  man  to  lose  his  life  ;  but  it 
might  fine  and  imprison,  and  in  case  of  libels  and  other 
offences  of  the  like  kind,  it  asserted  a  right  to  put  a  man 
in  the  pillory  and  to  cut  off  his  ears.  The  court  had 
done  good  service  in  punishing  rich  and  powerful  offen- 
ders whom  juries  would  have  been  afraid  to  convict,  and 
long  after  Elizabeth's  reign,  when  it  was  no  longer 
needed  to  keep  down  the  nobility,  it  was  much  resorted 
to  by  persons  whose  cases  were  too  intricate  for  an 
ordinary  jury  to  unravel.  There  were  those,  too,  who 
held  it  to  be  a  good  thing  that  there  should  be  a  court 
able  to  do  justice  against  criminals  who  might  not  have 
sinned  against  the  letter  of  the  law,  and  who  might  con- 
sequently escape  if  they  were  brought  before  the  ordinary 
courts.  It  may  fairly  be  said  to  have  served  a  useful 
purpose  as  long  as  the  crown  and  the  nation  walked  in 
harmony.  But  if  the  crown  were  to  go  one  way,  and  the 
nation  to  go  another,  a  court  completely  under  the  influ- 


1 48 5-1603.       The  Tudor  Monarchy,  1 1 


ence  of  the  crown  might  easily  be  used  against  the  nation 
which  it  was  intended  to  serve. 

The  Court  of  High  Commission  was  a  kind  of  Eccle- 
siastical Star  Chamber.  It  was  founded  by  Elizabeth, 
partly  on  the  strength  of  an  Act  of  Parlia-  „  ^ 

^       ^  ^       ^  §  9.  The  Court 

ment  empowermg  her  to  correct  abuses  m  of  High  Com- 
the  Church,  partly  on  the  strength  of  her 
claim  to  have  reasserted  for  the  royal  authority  the 
supreme  governorship  over  the  Church.  It  was  com- 
posed of  clergy  and  laymen  appointed  by  the  queen, 
and  was  able  to  fine  and  imprison  as  well  as  to  degrade 
and  suspend  clergymen  from  their  functions.  Here  too, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  Star  Chamber,  much  would  depend 
on  the  way  in  which  the  court  exercised  its  powers. 
Parliament  had  intended  that  they  should  be  used  mainly 
against  the  spread  of  Roman  Catholic  doctrines.  Eliza- 
beth, however,  used  them  chiefly  against  the  Puritans, 
and  if  Puritanism  came  to  be  really  accepted  by  the 
people  and  to  be  opposed  by  the  crown,  it  would  find  the 
Court  of  High  Commission  a  real  hindrance  to  its  devel- 
opment. 

During  the  i6th  century  therefore,  all  the  changes 
which  had  taken  place  in  the  institutions  of  the  country 
had  all  been  in  favor  of  the  crown.    But  the  rise  of  the 
royal  power  cannot  be  measured  merely  by 
the  change  of  courts  and  laws.    Royalty  had  ^     "^^^  "^^y^ 

°  •'  prerogative. 

come  to  be  regarded  as  the  centre  of  the 
national  life,  as  the  vindicator  of  the  national  rights 
against  the  injustice  of  the  nobility  at  home  and  the 
aggression  of  the  Pope  and  his  allies  from  abroad.  The 
personal  flattery  with  which  Elizabeth  was  surrounded 
was  but  the  extravagant  echo  of  the  wiser  judgment  of 
her  contemporaries.  Nothing  is  more  instructive  on  this 
head  than  the  infinitely  small  part  played  by  Parliament 


12       Puritans  and  House  of  Commons.  1 485-1 603. 


in  Shakespeare's  historical  dramas  written  during  the 
closing  years  of  EUzabeth's  hfe.  He  narrates  the  for- 
tunes of  King  John  without  the  sHghtest  allusion  to 
Magna  Charta.  What  interests  him  is  the  personal 
struggle  of  men  of  various  qualities  and  powers.  In 
Richard  11.  and  Henry  IV.  he  shows  what  misery  and 
turmoil  follow,  if  once  the  legal  ground  of  hereditary 
succession  is  abandoned.  He  makes  his  Richard  say 
that  :— 

Not  all  the  water  in  the  rough  rude  sea 
Can  wash  the  balm  from  an  anointed  king. 

But  Shakespeare's  loyalty  is  to  England  first,  to  the  king 
only  secondarily,  for  England's  sake.  He  sees  the  mis- 
chief which  Richard's  fall  had  caused.  But  his  sympa- 
thies go  with  Henry  IV.,  the  self-sustained  practical  ruler. 
Can  we  doubt  that  if  he  had  lived  half  a  century  later,  he 
would  have  mourned  for  Charles,  but  that  his  intelligence 
would  have  decided  for  Cromwell  ? 

As  long  as  Elizabeth  lived  she  was  the  representative 
of  the  nation  in  the  highest  sense.    With  all  her  faults, 

and  she  had  many,  she  sympathized  with 
of  Eiifabeth^^^  the  people  which  she  ruled.    One  day,  we 

are  told,  she  asked  a  lady  how  she  contrived 
to  retain  the  affection  of  her  husband.  The  lady  replied 
that  "  she  had  confidence  in  her  husband's  understand- 
ing and  courage,  well  founded  on  her  own  steadfastness 
not  to  offend  or  thwart,  but  to  cherish  and  obey,  whereby 
she  did  persuade  her  husband  of  her  own  affection,  and 
in  so  doing  did  command  his."  "  Go  to,  go  to,  mistress," 
answered  the  queen  ;  "  you  are  wisely  bent,  I  find.  After 
such  sort  do  I  keep  the  good-will  of  all  my  husbands,  my 
good  people  ;  for  if  they  did  not  rest  assured  of  some 
special  love  towards  them,  they  would  not  readily  yield 
me  such  good  obedience." 


i6o4.        The  Hampton  Court  Conference.  13 


Would  Elizabeth's  successor  be  able  to  do  the  same  ? 
If  he  could  not,  the  House  of  Commons  was  there  to 
give  voice  to  the  national  desires,  and  to 
claim  that  power  which  is  the  inevitable  re-  "^^^ 
suit  of  services  rendered  to  the  nation.  Such 
a  change  could  hardly  be  effected  without  a  contest. 
The  strength  which  had  been  imparted  to  the  crown  that 
it  might  accomplish  the  objects  aimed  at  by  the  nation 
would,  if  their  paths  diverged,  be  an  obstacle  in  the 
course  of  the  nation  which  only  force  could  overcome. 

Section  III. —  The  Hampton  Court  Conference  and  the 
proposed  Union  with  Scotland, 

The  mere  fact  that  Elizabeth's  successor  was  a  Scotch- 
man was  against  him.  James  I.  was  hneally  descended 
from  Henry  VII.  but  he  had  not  grown  up 
in  England,  had  not  been  surrounded  by  newKilg 
Englishmen  and  habituated  to  English  ways 
of  thinking.  His  own  mental  powers  were  by  no  means 
inconsiderable.  He  usually  knew  better  than  other  peo- 
ple what  sort  of  thing  it  was  desirable  to  do.  But  he  had 
a  great  aversion  to  taking  trouble  of  any  kind,  and  he 
shrank  from  the  constant  supervision  of  details  which  is 
absolutely  necessary  if  the  most  promising  plans  are  to 
ripen  into  fruit.  At  the  same  time  he  was  most  impa- 
tient of  opposition.  .He  believed  himself  to  be  authorized 
to  rule  England,  partly  by  his  birth,  partly  by  some 
divine  right  connected  with  his  birth  ;  but  infinitely  more 
by  his  own  superiority  in  wisdom.  He  liked  to  see  ques- 
tions brought  to  the  test  of  argument,  but  was  apt  to 
insult  those  who  refused  to  see  things  in  the  light  in 
which  he  saw  them.  His  Scotch  experience  was  espe- 
cially likely  to  bias  him  in  any  question  in  which  Puritan- 


14 


Puritans  and  House  of  Commons, 


1604. 


ism  was  concerned.  Puritan  ascendancy,  which  was  an 
object  of  fear  in  England,  had  been  a  fact  in  Scotland, 
and  James  was  not  likely  to  forget  the  day  when  a  Puri- 
tan minister  had  plucked  him  by  the  sleeve  and  had 
addressed  him  in  public  as  "  God's  silly  vassal." 

On  January  14,  1604,  nearly  ten  months  after  his  ac- 
cession, James  summoned  the  leading  Puritan  ministers  to 
meet  him  at  Hampton  Court  in  the  presence 
flampton  principal  bishops,  in  order  that  he 

Court  Con-  might  learn  what  ecclesiastical  changes  were 
desired  by  the  Puritans.  Some  of  these 
changes  proposed  by  them  were  so  far  adopted  that  they 
were  referred  to  commissioners  to  put  into  shape  for 
legislation  in  the  coming  Parliament.  But  on  the  main 
question  James  was  obdurate.  The  rules  and  orders  of 
the  Church  were  to  be  observed  without  relaxation.  It 
was  not  to  be  left  open  to  any  clergyman  to  decide 
whether  he  would  wear  a  surplice  or  a  black  gown, 
whether  he  would  make  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  baptisra 
whether  he  would  give  the  ring  in  marriage. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  James'  decision  was  entirely 
unreasonable.  If  every  minister  is  to  be  allowed  to  take 
„   ,  his  own  course,  he  may  possibly  eive  offence 

§3.  Importance  ,  j  r  j  a 

of  James'  de-  to  his  Congregation  by  omitting  some  cere- 
mony  to  which  they  are  accustomed,  as  well 
as  by  adopting  some  ceremony  to  which  they  are  unac- 
customed. But  an  argument  which  would  deserve  con- 
siderable weight  where  any  dissatisfied  members  of  a 
congregation  are  at  liberty  to  withdraw  from  it,  and 
to  establish  their  own  worship  apart,  is  much  less  valid 
when  it  is  applied  to  a  state  of  things  in  which  but  one 
form  of  worship  is  allowed  for  a  whole  nation.  The  idea 
of  separate  religious  bodies  each  worshipping  as  they 
thmk  right  would  have  been  repelled  by  all  parties  in 


1604.        Proposed  Union  with  Scotland.  15 


James'  reign,  and  the  only  question  was  whether  an  iron 
rule  was  to  be  laid  down  by  which  all  preachers,  how- 
ever persuasive  they  may  have  been  in  the  cause  of 
religion,  were  to  be  condemned  to  silence  if  they  refused 
to  conform  to  it. 

Unhappily  James  was  not  content  with  announcing  his 
decision.    Taking  fire  at  the  mention  of  the  word  *'  pres- 
byter "  he  blazed  up  into  anger.    "A  Scot-  ^ 
tish  presbytery,"  he  said     agreeth  as  well     violent  lan- 
with  a  monarchy  as  God  and  the  devil.  ^uage. 
Then  Jack  and  Tom  and  Will  and  Dick  shall  meet,  and 
at  their  pleasures  censure  me  and  my  council,  and  all 
our  proceedings.  .  .  Stay,  I  pray  you,  for  one  seven  years, 
before  you  demand  that  from  me,  and  if  then  you  find 
me  pursy  and  fat,  and  my  windpipes  stuffed,  I  will  per- 
haps hearken  to  you  ;  for  let  that  government  be  once 
up,  I  am  sure  I  shall  be  kept  in  breath  ;  then  shall  we 
all  of  us  have  work  enough.  .  .  .  Until  you  find  that  I 
grow  lazy,  let  that  alone.'* 

If  the  Puritans  were  irritated  by  the  king's  language, 
the  bishops  were  too  well  satisfied  with  the  substance  of 
his  reply  to  quarrel  with  its  form.    One  of 
their  number  went  so  far  as  to  declare  that   1 5-  Effect  of 

his  language. 

his  Majesty  spoke  by  the  inspiration  of  the 

Spirit  of  God  !    The  Puritans  left  his  presence  bitterly 

disappointed. 

The  House  of  Commons  which  met  on  March  19  was 
no  assembly  of  Puritans.    But  it  wished  that  the  conces- 
sions refused  by  James  should  be  granted  , ,  ^,  ^ 
to  the  Puritans,  m  order  that  every  possible  liamentfor 
Christian  influence  might  be  brought  to  bear 
on  the  sin  and  vice  around. 

The  Church  question  was  not  the  only  seed  of  division 
between  the  King  and  the  Commons.    He  was  anxious 


1 6  Puritans  and  House  of  Commons.  1610. 


„    _       J    to  brine  about  a  close  union  between  Ens:- 

^  7.  Proposed  ^  ° 

Union  with  land  and  Scotland,  and  he  was  deeply 
annoyed  when  he  found  that  the  House  was 
so  prejudiced  and  ignorant  as  to  see  all  kinds  of  imagi- 
nary dangers  in  his  beneficent  design.  A  state  of  feeling 
grew  up  in  which  agreement  on  lesser  matters  was  im- 
possible, and  when  Parliament  was  prorogued  the  schism 
between  King  and  Commons  had  already  begun. 

If  the  king  had  not  Parliament  on  his  side,  he  had 
Convocation.    That  clerical  body  was  capable  of  mak- 

4  r^^^  ing  canons,  that  is  to  say,  laws  binding  on 
Canons  of  the  clergy  though  not  on  the  laity,  and  it 
^^"^^^  now  enforced  upon  the  clergy  that  unifor- 

mity of  ceremonies  which  the  king  desired.  After  the 
prorogation  the  new  canons  were  put  in  force.  About 
three  hundred  clergymen  were  expelled  from  their  liv- 
ings for  refusing  to  conform,  and  a  compulsory  peace  was 
imposed  on  the  English  Church. 

James  had  no  immediate  danger  to  fear.  The  Puri- 
tans formed  but  a  minority  amongst  the  clergy  and  laity. 

„    ^,         and  the  ease  with  which  so  harsh  a  mea- 

g  9.  The  ... 

Puritans  in  sure  was  Carried  out  is  strong  evidence  that 
opposition.  existing  ceremonies  were  at  least  tacitly 

accepted  by  the  mass  of  the  people.  But  there  was  a  feel- 
ing abroad  that  the  expulsion  of  these  men  was  injurious 
to  the  cause  of  religion,  and  if  events  came  to  make  the 
crown  otherwise  unpopular,  Puritanism  would  be  a  force 
added  to  the  side  of  its  adversaries. 

For  six  years  the  work  of  enforcing  conformity  went 
on.    In  1610  Abbot  was  appointed  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury.    He  himself  conformed   to  the 
^  ^  uu^u^°^'-^     Church  ceremonial,  but  he  was  a  lax  disci- 

archbishopnc.  , 

plinarian,  and  he  sympathized  to  some  extent 
with  the  feelings  of  the  Puritans.    Under  his  manage- 


i6o6.  The  New  Impositions, 


17 


ment  the  rule  of  the  Church  was  less  strictly  exercised. 
Here  and  there  the  surplice  was  dropped,  and  portions 
of  the  service  omitted  at  the  discretion  of  the  minister. 
But  it  was  one  thing  to  allow  liberty  within  certain  limits 
by  a  fixed  law  :  it  was  another  thing  to  allow  liberty  by 
the  mere  remissness  of  one  who  ought  to  have  been  the 
guardian  of  the  law.  What  one  archbishop  allowed 
might  easily  be  forbidden  by  another. 

Meanwhile  the  question  of  the  union  with  Scotland 
dragged  slowly  on,  and  it  was  only  in  1607  that  the  Com- 
mons made  one  or  two  unimportant  conces- 

.  A.  D.  1607. 

sions.  Though  they  professed  their  readi-  g  n.  Settie- 
ness  to  examine  the  question  at  a  future  time,  UnioiTques^- 
James  preferred  cutting  the  knot  as  far  as  he 
was  able  to  do  so.  The  Judges  were  either  less  amenable 
than  the  Commons  to  popular  prejudice,  or  were  ready, 
under  any  circumstances,  to  give  effect  to  the  doctrine 
of  their  law-books.  They  decided  that  all  Scotchmen 
born  since  his  accession  to  the  English  throne  were  natu- 
ralized Englishmen.  All  hopes  of  obtaining  any  closer 
union  between  the  two  nations  were  abandoned  for  the 
present. 

Section  IV. —  The  New  hnpositions  and  the  Great 
Contract, 

Besides  the  great  questions  of  conformity  in  the 
Church  and  of  union  with  Scotland,  others  had  been 
raised  which  might  have  been  settled  with-  a.d.  1606. 
out  difficulty  if  the  crown  and  the  House  of  Loney^diScul- 
Commons  had  been  agreed  on  more  im- 
portant  matters.  A  feeling  of  irritation  was  daily  grow- 
mg,  and  there  was  one  way  in  which  the  irritation  of 
viie  Commons  could  easily  find  expression.  The  king 
was  in  want  of  a  permanent  supply  of  money,  and  un- 


1 8        llie  Puritans  and  House  of  Commons.  1606. 


less  all  the  traditions  of  the  English  constitution  were 
to  be  reversed,  he  could  not  have  it  without  a  grant  from 
the  House  of  Commons. 

It  was  not  wholly  his  fault.    Elizabeth  had  carried  on 
an  expensive  war  upon  a  miserably  insufficient  revenue, 
^      .     and  even  if  James  had  been  as  parsimonious 

g  2    Condition  ^ 

ofthefinan-  as  shc  had  been,  he  could  hardly  have 
avoided  a  large  deficit.  As  a  married  man, 
his  household  expenses  were  certain  to  be  more  than 
those  of  an  unmarried  queen.  At  his  first  coming  he 
had  no  notion  that  he  had  any  reason  to  be  parsimo- 
nious at  all.  After  his  experience  of  Scottish  poverty, 
the  resources  of  the  English  exchequer  seemed  to  be 
boundless,  and  he  flung  pensions  and  gifts  with  an  un- 
spaiing  hand  amongst  his  favorites.  The  result  was  that 
before  he  had  been  on  the  throne  four  years  an  expen- 
diture of  about  500,000/.  a  year  had  to  be  provided  for 
out  of  a  revenue  of  about  320,000/.  a  year. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  was  difficult  to  resist  the 
temptation  of  getting  money  in  any  way  which  would 
not  involve  immediate  risk.    Just  at  this 

\  3-  Judgment 

on  Bate's  time  the  temptation  was  offered.  At  the  be- 
ginning  of  every  reign  customs  duties  upon 
goods  imported  and  exported  were  granted  to  the  crown 
by  Parliament  under  the  name  of  tonnage  and  pound- 
age. But  besides  these  Mary  and  Elizabeth  had  de- 
manded certain  small  payments  called  impositions  with- 
out any  Parliamentary  grant.  James  had  added  further 
impositions  on  currants  and  tobacco.  In  1606  a  mer- 
chant named  Bate  refused  to  pay  the  imposition  on  cur- 
rants. The  case  was  brought  before  the  Court  of  Ex- 
chequer, and  the  Judges  decided  that  the  king  had  a 
right  by  law  to  set  impositions  on  merchandise  without 
any  grant  from  the  Parliament.    It  is  generally  allowed 


i6io. 


The  New  Impositions. 


19 


now  that  the  Judges  were  wrong.  But  the  fact  that  they 
had  so  decided  was  of  the  utmost  importance.  The 
king  could  always  say  that  he  might  raise  as  much  mo- 
ney in  this  way  as  he  pleased,  and  would  still  be  keep- 
ing within  the  law. 

In  1608  advantage  was  taken  of  this  decision.  New 
impositions  were  laid  on  merchandise  to  the  amount  of 
70,000/.   But  even  this  would  not  fill  up  a 

'     '  .  ^  A.  D.  1608. 

yearly  deficit  of  180,000/.,  and  in  1610  g  4.  The  new 
Parliament  was  asked  to  come  to  the  aid  of  '"^p^^^^^^^s- 
the  crown. 

A  bargain  was  accordingly  entered  into — the  Great 
Contract,  as  it  was  called — by  which  the  king  was  to 
surrender  certain  harsh  and  antiquated  ^  ^  f^r^^x 
rights,  and  was  to  receive  in  return  a  reve-  Contract, 
nue  equal  to  200,000/.  a  year.  But  before 
the  bargain  was  actually  completed,  the  question  of  the 
new  impositions  was  discussed,  and  the  House  of  Com- 
mons had  no  difficulty  in  deciding  them  to  be  illegal. 
But  a  resolution  of  the  Commons,  without  the  assent  of 
the  king  and  the  House  of  Lords,  could  not  make  that 
illegal  which  the  Judges  had  pronounced  to  be  legal. 
James  voluntarily  remitted  some  of  the  impositions  to 
the  value  of  20,000/,  and  a  little  later  he  offered  to 
surrender  his  right  to  raise  any  more,  if  Parliament 
would  confirm  his  hold  upon  what  he  had  already  got. 

Before  this  agreement  could  be  embodied  in  an  Act 
of  Parliament,  the  time  for  the  summer  vacation  had  ar- 
rived.   It  was  resolved  that  there  should  be     , ,  ^ 

....  f  o-  Breach 

another  session  m  the  wmter  to  carry  out     between  the 
the  arrangement.    When  the  winter  came,     firsf  Parlia-^ 
the  temper  of  the  two  parties  had  altered 
for  the  worse.    The  members  of  Parliament  had  talked 
over  the  matter  with  their  constituents,  and  had  come 


20        The  Puritans  and  House  of  Commons.  1612. 


to  the  conclusion  that  they  were  asked  to  give  too  much. 
The  king  had  talked  over  the  matter  with  his  ministers, 
and  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  he  would  receive 
too  little.  Under  these  circumstances  no  agreement 
was  possible.  The  king  dissolved  his  first  Parliament 
m  disgust.  He  retained  a  heavy  debt  and  a  large  de- 
ficit. He  retained,  too,  the  right  acknowledged  to  be 
his  by  the  Judges,  of  levying  any  customs  duties  he 
chose  by  his  sole  will  and  pleasure. 

Good  advice  was  not  wanting  to  James.    Bacon,  who 
had  told  him  plainly  what  he  ought  to  do  with  the  Puri- 
tans, told  him  plainly  what  he  ought  to  do 

A.  D.  1612.  r  J  o 

1 7.  Bacon's  with  his  financial  difficulties.  It  was  a  mis- 
advice.  \,2^^  Bacon-  argued,  to  bargain  with  the 
House  of  Commons.  If  they  were  asked  to  take  part 
in  a  bargain,  they  would  naturally  try  to  get  as  much  as 
they  could  for  themselves,  and  to  give  as  little  as  they 
could  to  the  king.  The  thing  to  be  remembered  was 
that  the  king  and  the  Parliament  were  members  of  one 
body  with  common  interests  and  common  work.  It  was 
for  the  king  to  rule  well  and  wisely,  without  bargaining 
for  anything  in  return.  If  he  did  this,  if  he  secured  the 
love  and  esteem  of  his  subjects,  he  would  have  no  diffi- 
culty in  obtaining  from  them  all  the  money  for  which  he 
could  fitly  wish. 

Bacon's  advice  was  not  taken.  In  1614  another  Par- 
liament was  summoned,    and    another  bargain  was 

opened.  The  king  did  not  offer  to  surrender 
^  8.  The^Par-  as  much  as  he  had  offered  before,  and  he 
i6iT"^  much  money  in  return. 

But  his  principle  of  action  was  the  same, 
and  the  result  was  the  same.  The  House  took  the  ques- 
tion of  impositions  into  consideration  before  they  would 
grant  a  penny,  and  again  declared  that  the  king  had  no 


1 603 .  Gunpowder  Plot. 


21 


right  to  levy  them.  James  at  once  dissolved  Parliament 
after  a  sitting  of  a  few  weeks.  It  produced  no  statute, 
and  was  consequently  known  in  history  as  the  Addled 
Parliament. 


CHAPTER  11. 

THE  SPANISH  ALLIANCE. 

Section  I. — Gunpowder  Plot. 

The  relations  between  James  and  the  Puritans  were  to 
some  extent  modified  after  the  appointment  of  Abbot  to 
the  archbishopric.    Some  connivance  was 

^  .  A.  D.  1603. 

extended  to  those  of  the  nonconformists  Relations 
who  did  not  make  themselves  too  obtrusive,  jamesandthe 
The  relations  between  James  and  the  Ca-  ^^^tholics. 
tholics,  on  the  other  hand,  had  some  time  before  Ab- 
bot's appointment  become  harsher  than  they  were  at  the 
beginning  of  the  reign. 

By  the  Elizabethan  legislation,  the  Recusants,  as  the 
Catholics  who  refused  to  go  to  church  were  called,  were 
in  evil  case.  The  richest  amongst  them 
were  liable  to  a  fine  of  20/.  a  month.  Land-  cusancy^  kws. 
owners  who  could  not  afford  to  pay  this 
were  deprived  of  two-thirds  of  their  estates.  Persons 
who  had  no  lands  might  have  the  furniture  of  their 
houses  seized  and  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  exchequer. 
Any  one  of  these  men  was  liable  to  excommunication, 
and  an  excommunicated  man  could  be  sent  to  prison 
without  any  further  formality.  To  say  mass  as  a  priest, 
or  to  assist  a  priest  in  doing  so,  was  punishable  with 
death.    Of  course,  these  harsh  penalties  were  consider- 


22 


The  Spanish  Alliance.  1604. 


ably  modified  in  practice.  But  every  man  who  did  not 
come  to  church  knew  that  they  were  suspended  over  his 
head,  perhaps  to  fall  without  a  moment's  warning. 

Before  his  accession,  James,  being  anxious  to  secure 
adherents,  had  given  hopes  of  lightening  the  burdens 
which  pressed  upon  the  Catholics.    Not  long  after  his 
arrival  in  Encrland  he  informed  the  principal 

g  3.    James  , 

promises  to  Catholics  that,  as  long  as  they  behaved  as 
the  Catholics.  ^0^2!  subjects,  the  fines  would  no  longer  be 
exacted.  But  he  still  had  reason  for  disquietude.  There 
had  been  plots  and  rumors  of  plots,  and  the  number  of 
the  recusants  had  largely  increased  as  soon  as  the  legal 
penalties  had  been  suspended.  In  February  1604  James 
banished  all  priests  from  England,  though  as  yet  he  took 
no  active  measures  against  the  laity. 

There  were  Catholics  in  England  who  were  ready  to 
dare  anything  for  the  triumph  of  their  Church.    As  soon 

as  the  proclamation  for  the  banishment  of 
^4^"Formation  the  pncsts  appeared,  Robert  Catesby,  a  man 
der^1o^^"^°^"  steeped  in  plots  and  conspiracies,  proposed  lo 

one  or  two  friends  to  blow  up  King,  Lords 
and  Commons  with  gunpowder.  Guy  Fawkes,  a  cool 
and  daring  soldier,  was  sent  for  from  Flanders  to  assist 
in  the  execution  of  the  scheme.  Others  were  by  degrees 
admitted  to  the  secret,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
two  or  three  priests  were  of  the  number.  They  took  a 
house  adjoining  the  House  of  Lords,  and  proceeded  to 
dig  through  the  wall,  in  order  that  they  might  place  their 
barrels  of  powder  under  the  floor  before  the  opening  of 
the  next  session.  The  wall  was  nine  feet  thick,  and  after 
some  weeks'  work  they  had  made  but  little  way.  Water 
flowed  in  and  hindered  their  operations.  Superstitious  fan- 
cies gathered  thickly  round  hem,  and  they  imagined  that 
they  were  accompanied  in  their  labors  by  unearthly  sounds. 


Gunpowder  Plot, 


23 


In  the  spring  of  1605  James,  frightened  at  the  increase 
in  the  number  of  recusants,  put  the  laws  again  in  force 
against  the  Roman  CathoHc  laity.  The 
conspirators  felt  a  fresh  spur  to  their  enter-     g  s^  Enforce- 
prise.  At  the  same  time  an  accident  relieved  pen^anlw^ 
them  from  further  trouble.    An  adjoining 
cellar,  reaching  under  the  House  of  Lords  without  any 
intervening  wall,  was  found  to  be  for  hire.    It  was  taken 
in  the  name  of  one  of  the  conspirators.    The  powder 
which  they  needed  was  safely  lodged  in  it,  and  was 
covered  with  fagots  in  order  to  conceal  it  from  any 
chance  visitant.    All  that  remained  was  to  prepare  for 
the  insurrection  which  was  to  follow  after  the  fatal  deed 
had  been  accomplished. 

To  hire  a  cellar  and  to  buy  a  few  barrels  of  powder, 
was  an  exploit  within  the  means  of  the  conspirators. 
More  money  than  they  could  command  was 
needed  to  prepare  for  an  insurrection.  Three  ?  ^-  "^^f  P^°' 

^     ^  betrayed. 

rich  Catholics  were  informed  of  the  project, 
and  their  purses  were  laid  under  contribution.  One  of 
them,  anxious  for  the  safety  of  a  relative  who  was  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Lords,  contrived  that  informa- 
tion should  be  given  to  the  government  in  such  a  way 
that  the  conspirators  might  be  themselves  warned  in  time 
to  fly. 

The  conspirators  received  the  warning,  but  they  re- 
fused to  believe  it  to  be  true.    Parliament  was  to  be 
opened  on  November  5.    On  the  night  of 
the  4th  Fawkes  was  seized  watching  over  f^/e  pk)t^^^^^ 
the  powder  barrels.    The  next  morning  the 
other  plotters  were  flying  for  their  lives.    Some  were 
killed  before  they  could  be  taken.    Others  were  captured 
and  died  a  traitor's  death. 

The  detected  conspiracy  was  fatal  to  the  hopes  of  the 


24 


The  Spanish  A lliarice.  1 6 1 ' 


Catholics.  The  laws  against  them  were 
a  8.  Result  of  ]-na,de  harsher  than  ever,  and  the  fines  were 

the  conspiracy.  ' 

more  unremittingly  exacted.  The  door  of 
mercy  seemed  closed  against  them  for  many  a  year. 

Section  II. —  Jajnes  I.  and  Spain. 

The  detection  of  the  Gunpowder  Plot  rekindled  the 
old  feelings  of  antipathy  against  Spain  as  well  as  against 

the  Catholics  at  home.  James,  if  carried 
1 1.  Unpopu-  away  for  a  moment,  did  not  fully  share  in 
larity  of  Spain.  ^^^^^  feeUngs.  If  only  he  could  be  assured 
that  his  authority  in  England  was  in  no  danger,  his 
natural  aversion  to  cruelty  would  make  him  shrink  from 
persecution,  and  he  was  inclined  to  look  with  favor  upon 
a  Spanish  alliance  which  might  help  him  to  prevent  a 
fresh  outbreak  of  war  in  Europe. 

But  he  was  not  content  with  offering  to  join  Spain  in 
keeping  the  peace.    In  i6ii  he  proposed  to  marry  his 

son  to  a  Spanish  infanta.    In  1614,  after  the 
Spanish      dissolution  of  Parliament,  the  proposal  was 
p!fsed^^^         repeated.    Money  he  must  have,  and  if  he 

could  not  get  money  from  Parliament  he 
would  get  it  from  the  King  of  Spain  as  a  daughter's  por- 
tion. He  imagined  that  he  would  not  be  pressed  to  give 
more  to  the  English  Catholics  in  return  than  a  conni- 
vance at  their  worship  in  private  houses,  a  concession 
which  might  be  withdrawn  at  his  pleasure  if  it  became 
dangerous.  In  161 7  the  negotiation  was  formally  opened, 
the  Spaniards  all  the  while  intending  to  refuse  the  hand 
of  their  princess  in  the  end  unless  they  could  obtain  the 
conditions  which  they  thought  sufficient  to  secure  the 
conversion  of  England. 

James'  want  of  money  led  to  another  act  which  has 
weighed  upon  his  memory  even  more  deeply  than  his 


I6I7. 


James  I.  and  Spain, 


25 


Spanish  alliance.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  sea- 
rover,  statesman,  colonizer,  and  historian,  ^3^' Raleigh's 
had  entangled  himself  in  an  inexplicable 
way  in  a  plot  soon  after  James'  accession,  and  had  been 
condemned  to  death.  Reprieved  upon  the  scaffold,  he 
had  been  left  in  the  Tower  for  many  years,  where  he 
had  solaced  himself  by  writing  the  History  of  the  World. 
But  his  thoughts  were  far  away  across  the  Atlantic  waves 
amidst  the  forests  of  America,  and  he  had  to  tell  of  a 
*  golden  mine  on  the  banks  of  the  Orinoco  rich  enough 
to  make  the  fortune  of  a  king.  James  listened  half  in- 
credulously. But  there  were  those  about  him  who  wished 
him  to  give  ear  to  the  tale, — men  to  whom  the  friendship 
of  Spain  was  hateful,  and  who  wished  to  cut  loose  the 
ties  which  were  binding  England  to  the  Catholic  king, 
and  to  see  once  more  the  rovers  of  Plymouth  and  Barn- 
staple bringing  home  rich  prizes  taken  in  Spanish 
seas. 

James  had  no  wish  to  break  with  Spain  ;  but  he  had 
an  eye  to  the  gold.  He  made  Raleigh  promise  not  to 
go  near  Spanish  territory,  and  explained  to 
him  that  if  he  touched  a  Spaniard  he  must  peditTon  to'' 
answer  for  it  with  his  head.  Raleigh,  freed  ^^^i^na. 
from  prison,  hastened  to  the  Orinoco.  He  firmly  be- 
lieved that  if  he  could  only  get  the  gold,  he  would  not 
be  held  to  his  engagements.  He  sent  his  men  up  the 
river  without  distinct  orders  to  avoid  fighting.  They 
seized  and  plundered  a  Spanish  town.  The  golden  mine 
eluded  their  search.  Raleigh's  eldest  son  was  killed  in 
the  attack.  Heart-broken  at  the  failure,  he  proposed  to 
his  captains  to  lie  in  wait  for  the  Spanish  treasure  ships, 
which  would  furnish  gold  enough  to  a  bold  assailant. 
His  captains  refused  to  follow  him,  and  he  had  to  come 
back  to  England  with  nothing  in  his  hands.  James  sent 
D 


The  Spanish  Alliance, 


1615. 


him  to  the  scaffold  for  a  fault  which  he  ought  never  to 
have  given  him  the  chance  of  committing. 

Everything  to  which  James  put  his  hand  was  marred 
in  the  execution.  His  own  life  was  virtuous  and  upright. 


drag  him  in  ways  in  which  he  did  not  think  fit  to  go,  he 
hit  upon  the  plan  of  educating  some  young  man  who 
would  be  his  companion  in  amusements  and  his  private  * 
secretary  in  business,  who  would  be  the  dispenser  of  his 
patronage,  and  would,  above  all,  save  him  the  thankless 
task  of  saying  No,  when  favors  were  asked.  The  first 
whom  he  chose  was  Robert  Carr,  a  young  Scotchman^ 
who  seemed  to  possess  the  needful  qualities,  and  who 
finally  became  Earl  of  Somerset.  Somerset  assisted 
James  in  the  negotiations  with  Spain  which  preceded  the 
open  avowal  of  the  negotiations  for  the  Spanish  marriage. 
But  Somerset's  head  was  turned  by  his  advancement. 
He  fell  in  love  with  the  wife  of  the  Earl  of  Essex,  and 
married  her,  after  procuring  a  divorce  under  circum- 
stances which  called  down  upon  her  the  reprobation  of 
honest  men.  Not  long  afterwards  a  murder  which  had 
been  committed  was  traced  to  her  contrivance,  and  her 
husband  was  vehemently  suspected  of  assisting  her. 
Both  were  brought  to  trial,  and  sentenced  to  death.  Both 
received  pardon  from  the  king,  though  their  position  at 
court  was  ruined, 

Somerset  was  succeeded  by  George  Villiers,  soon  after- 
wards created  Earl,  and  then  Marquis  of  Buckingham. 


A.  D.  1615. 

^  6.  Advance- 
ment of 
Bucking- 
ham. 


In  natural  ability  and  gentleness  of  disposi- 
tion Buckingham  was  far  superior  to  Somer- 
set. It  is  possible  that  if  he  had  risen  by 
slow  degrees  he  might  have  done  good  ser- 


i6i6. 


James  I.  and  Spain, 


27 


vice  to  the  commonwealth.  But  so  sudden  a  rise  was 
enough  to  spoil  any  one.  It  is  true  that  for  many  a  year 
James  kept  the  decision  of  political  questions  in  his  own 
hands.  But  any  one  who  wanted  advancement  at  court 
must  come  to  Buckingham.  Gentlemen  who  wished  to 
be  made  barons,  and  barons  who  wished  to  be  made 
earls  ;  lawyers  who  aspired  to  be  judges,  and  judges  who 
aspired  to  a  more  lucrative  employment  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  finances  or  in  the  actual  government  of 
the  state,  must  bow  down  to  Buckingham  and  propitiate 
his  favor.  Wealth  poured  in  to  support  his  dignity, 
and  in  a  year  or  two  the  youth  who  could  at  one  time 
scarcely  afford  to  buy  himself  a  new  suit  of  clothes,  was 
with  one  exception  the  richest  peer  in  England.  No 
wonder  his  head  was  turned.  No  wonder  he  expected 
submission  full  and  complete  to  every  fancy  which  might 
pass  through  his  brain.  He  had  kinsmen,  too,  to  be  re- 
membered as  well  as  himself,  a  mother  to  be  made  much 
of  at  court,  brothers  to  be  made  peers,  portionless  nieces 
and  cousins  to  be  married  to  men  who  were  aspirants  for 
office.  Foolishly  compliant  as  James  was  in  this,  there 
was  a  method  in  it  all.  He  wanted  to  shake  himself 
loose  from  the  trammels  of  the  House  of  Lords,  as  he 
wanted  to  shake  himself  loose  from  the  trammels  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  and  he  hoped  that  the  new  peers 
who  owed  their  exaltation  to  the  good  word  of  Bucking- 
ham, and  sometimes  to  the  sums  of  money  which  they 
paid  over  to  Buckingham  or  to  the  king  himself,  would 
steadily  give  him  their  votes  forever  after. 

James'  internal  government  in  these  years  was  better 
in  intention  than  in  its  results.  He  wished  to  do  right  to 
all  men.    Case  after  case  arose  in  which       o  t 

g  7.  James 

some  high  officer  of  state  was  found  eruilty       internal  go- 

o       ^  vernment. 

of  wrong-domg,  and  James  made  no  attempt 


28 


T'he  Spanish  Alliance, 


1616. 


to  shelter  any  one  from  the  consequences  of  his  fault. 
But  there  were  not  a  few  who  naturally  thought  that  the 
remedy  was  as  bad  as  the  disease,  and  that  the  system 
which  compelled  the  officers  of  state  to  hang  upon  the 
favor  or  the  smile  of  an  inexperienced  youth  was^  itself 
the  hot-bed  of  corruption. 

James'  conception  of  the  limits  of  his  own  authority 
was  in  the  main  the  same  as  that  of  Elizabeth.  He  had 
sworn,  he  said,  in  a  speech  which  he  deli- 
g^s.^His^ifew  vcrcd  on  a  solemn  occasion  in  1616,  to  do 
authority^  justicc  and  to  maintain  the  law,  "the  com- 
mon law  of  the  land,  according  to  which 
the  king  governs,  and  by  which  the  people  are  gov- 
erned." He  had,  he  added,  "  as  far  as  human  frailty 
might  permit  him,  or  his  knowledge  inform  him,"  kept 
his  oath.  If  the  law  was  uncertain,  uncertainties  must 
be  removed  by  Parliament.  But  it  was  his  business  to 
see  that  the  Judges  did  not  introduce  novelties  out  of 
their  own  heads.  The  prerogative  of  the  crown  was  in 
this  respect  regarded  by  James  as  giving  him  authority 
to  control  the  self-will  of  the  Judges.  **  This,"  he  said, 
"  is  a  thing  regal  and  proper  to  a  king,  to  keep  every 
court  within  its  true  bounds."  Then,  waxing  warm,  he 
added  words  which  seem  rather  startling  at  present  :  "As 
for  the  absolute  prerogative  of  the  crown,  that  is  no  sub- 
ject for  the  tongue  of  a  lawyer,  nor  is  it  lawful  to  be 
disputed.  It  is  atheism  and  blasphemy  to  dispute  what 
God  can  do  ;  good  Christians  content  themselves  with 
His  will  revealed  in  His  word  ;  so  it  is  presumption  and 
high  contempt  in  a  subject  to  dispute  what  a  king  can 
do,  or  say  that  a  king  cannot  do  this  or  that ;  but  rest  in 
that  which  is  the  king's  will  revealed  in  his  law." 

It  is  easy  to  look  upon  these  words  as  a  mere  absurdity. 
Yet  not  only  are  they  worthy  of  consideration,  but  they 


1617. 


James  I.  and  Spain, 


29 


will  be  found  to  furnish  the  key  to  much  of     ,    ^  ^ 

g  9.  How  far 

the  subsequent  history.  The  fact  is  that  no  was  he  in 
nation  can  be  governed  by  general  rules.  the  right? 
Those  rules  being  the  work  of  fallible  human  creatures, 
cannot  possibly  embrace  all  points  of  difficulty  that  may 
arise.  When  new  difficulties  come  up  for  settlement  there 
must  be  some  living  intelligence  to  meet  them,  to  frame 
new  rules,  to  enlarge  the  old  ones,  and  to  see  that  per- 
sons entrusted  with  carrying  them  out  do  not  misuse 
their  authority.  With  us  this  living  intelHgence  is  looked 
for  in  Parliament,  or  in  ministers  acting  in  responsibility 
to  Parliament.  Under  the  Tudor  constitution  new  rules 
could  only  be  laid  down  by  the  combined  operation  of 
king  and  Parliament.  But  it  was  considered  to  be  the 
king's  business  to  keep  the  machine  of  government  in 
working  order,  and  to  make  special  provision  for  tempo- 
rary emergencies,  without  responsibility  to  any  one. 
James'  vague  language  doubtless  implied  assumptions 
of  a  dangerous  kind,  but  in  the  main  he  meant  no  more 
than  that  the  limits  to  the  exercise  of  this  special  power 
were  in  themselves  indefinable.  The  power  must  be 
used  when  occasion  called  it  out,  and  no  one  could  say 
beforehand  how  it  would  be  right  for  him  to  act  in  any 
given  circumstances. 

So  far,  then,  James  was  but  carrying  out  the  system  of 
his  predecessors.    But  he  forgot  that  the  success  of  every 
system  depends  upon  the  spirit  in  which  it      ^  ^ 
is  worked.     The  Tudor  sovereigns  were      1 10.  Woufd 

i_  c  1  1  J  1       1    r  he  be  able  to 

hungry  for  popularity,  and  drew  back  from     keep  his 
attempting  to  realize  their  dearest  wishes  if  authority? 
they  ran  counter  to  the  settled  desire  of  the  nation. 
James  fancied  himself  above  popularity.    Puritanism,  it 
is  true,  had  for  a  time  ceased  to  be  dangerous.  But 
James'  foreign  policy  was  such  as  to  try  the  patience  of 


30 


The  Spanish  Alliance, 


1618. 


Englishmen.  It  would  be  bad  enough  to  throw  the  force 
of  England  into  the  scale  against  Protestantism  abroad, 
but  a  nearer  and  more  appalling  danger  was  imminent. 
A  Spanish  marriage  for  the  Prince  of  Wales  meant 
privileges  for  the  English  Catholics  at  home,  it  meant 
the  chance  of  seeing  their  numbers  so  increase  through 
the  connivance  of  the  court,  that  they  would  be  able  to 
force  their  will  upon  the  consciences  of  Protestant  Eng- 
lishmen. It  possibly  might  mean  that  the  future  children 
of  the  Prince  of  Wales  would  be  brought  up  as  oppo- 
nents of  the  belief  of  Englishmen,  and  would  some  day 
be  able  to  use  the  royal  authority  in  favor  of  the  Church 
of  their  mother.  If  Puritanism  awoke  again  from  its 
slumbers,  and  arrayed  its  powers  in  opposition  to  this 
royal  authority  which  James  valued  so  highly,  the  cause 
must  primarily  be  sought  in  this  unhappy  Spanish  mar- 
riage upon  which  he  had  set  his  heart. 

Section  III. —  The  Spaniards  iji  the  Palatinate, 

In  161 8,  that  which  James  had  long  striven  to  avert 
came  to  pass.    The  flames  of  war  broke  out  in  Bohemia, 
and  there  was  every  probability  that  they 
^\  \he^^       would  spread  far  before  they  were  quenched. 
Bohemian       The  German  States  were  divided  by  politi- 

Revolution.  •  1  i     1  i- 

cal  differences  ;  still  more  widely  by  reli- 
gious differences.  Whatever  form  any  dispute  took  in 
Germany  was  sure  to  settle  down  ultimately  into  a 
quarrel  between  Cathohcs  and  Protestants.  This  was 
precisely  what  James  disliked,  and  he  did  his  best  to  per- 
suade the  combatants  that  they  had  better  not  fight  about 
religion.  He  gave  plenty  of  good  advice,  which  those 
who  received  it  never  thought  of  taking. 

Yet  after  all,  it  must  be  remembered  that  James'  ad- 
vice was  good  in  itself.    Nothing  better  could  have 


1 6 1 9 .        The  Spaniards  in  the  Palatinate,  3 1 

happened  for  Europe,  then  on  the  verge  of   ^  ^ 

the  horrible  Thirty  Years'  War,  than  that  vice  good  on 

J        the  whole. 

the  different  powers  should  have  allowed  a 
well-meaning,  disinterested  man  like  James  to  settle  what 
their  rights  were.  But  as  there  was  not  the  least  chance 
of  this  all  that  he  had  really  to  decide  on  was  whether  he 
would  keep  entirely  aloof,  or  whether  he  ought  to  inter- 
fere on  one  side  or  the  other. 

This  was  precisely  what  he  could  not  do.    He  wavered 
from  hour  to  hour.    At  one  moment  some  violent  and 
unreasonable  action  on  the  Cathohc  side 
would  make  him  think  that  he  ought  to  un-  f> 
dertake  the  defence  of  the  German  Protest- 
ants. At  another  moment  some  violent  and  unreasonable 
action  on  the  Protestant  side  would  make  him  think  that 
he  ought  to  leave  the  German  Protestants  to  their  fate. 

In  1619  his  difficulties  became  still  more  distracting. 
His  son  in-law  Frederick  ruled,  as  Elector  Palatine,  over 
the  pleasant  lands  which  stretched  in  a  strag- 
gling course  from  the  Moselle  to  the  frontier  son- 
of  Bohemia.  Frederick,  though  incapaci-  of' Bohemia 
tated  by  his  weakness  of  character  from 
taking  a  leading  part  in  a  great  political  struggle,  was 
marked  out  by  his  high  dignity  as  the  natural  leader  of 
those  German  princes  who  believed  a  struggle  with  the 
Roman  Catholic  powers  to  be  unavoidable.  He  was  now 
chosen  King  of  Bohemia  by  the  Bohemian  revolutionists 
in  opposition  to  the  Arch-duke  Ferdinand,  who  was  al- 
ready legally  in  posession  of  that  crown.  Two  days 
later  Ferdinand  was  chosen  Emperor,  and  in  both  ca- 
pacities he  called  upon  the  Catholic  states  to  assist  him 
against  Frederick,  whom  he  naturally  stigmatized  as  a 
mere  usurper. 

With  little  hesitation  James  came  to  the  conclusion  that 


32 


The  Spanish  Alliance. 


1620. 


Frederick  had  no  right  to  Bohemia,  and  that  he  could 
give  him  no  assistance  there.    But  what  was 
^'-Jno\\x^-  to  do  if  the  Spanish  forces,  setting  out 

Pafatfnate^^  from  the  Netherlands,  were  to  swoop  down 
on  the  Palatinate  and  to  keep  it  as  a  pledge 
for  the  surrender  of  Bohemia  ?  On  the  one  hand,  if  his 
son-in-law  had  no  right  to  Bohemia,  all  means  were  law- 
ful to  make  him  let  go  his  hold.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  Spaniards  once  established  themselves  in  the  Palati- 
nate, it  would  be  difficult  to  get  them  out  again.  The 
solution  which  called  for  the  least  action  was  always  pre- 
ferred by  James,  and  he  contented  himself  with  allowing 
a  regiment  of  English  volunteers  to  go  to  the  Palatinate 
under  Sir  Horace  Vere,  to  be  supported  by  such  means 
as  Frederick  had  it  in  his  power  to  give. 

In  the  summer  of  1620  the  blow  fell.    Whilst  Bava- 
rians and  Saxons  and  Imperialists  were  pouring  into 
Bohemia,  a  well-appointed  Spanish  force 
IpanTa^rds        marched  up  the  Rhine   and  seized  the 
in  the  Paia-      Western  Palatinate.    James  was  for  the  mo- 

tinate. 

ment  stung  to  resolution  by  the  news.  He 
summoned  Parliament  to  enable  him  to  defend  the  in- 
heritance of  his  daughter  and  her  children.  Before 
Parliament  had  time  to  meet,  that  daughter  and  her  hus- 
band were  flying  from  Bohemia  after  a  crushing  defeat 
on  the  White  Hill,  outside  the  walls  of  Prague. 

When  Parliament  met,  James  called  upon  it  for  sup- 
plies in  order  that  he  might  be  able  to  ne- 
I^V^Th?^  gotiate  with  a  sword  in  his  hand.  But  he 
01^^62^^"^  did  not  propose  to  send  troops  immediately 
into  Germany,  and  the  House  of  Commons 
contented  itself  with  voting  a  small  supply,  without  bind- 
ing itself  for  the  future.  James  talked  of  negotiating, 
and  of  fighting  if  negotiation  proved  useless.    The  Ger- 


i62i.        The  Spaniards  in  the  Palatinate.  3-^ 


mans  who  were  nearest  the  danger  thought  he  ought  to 
send  an  army  first  and  negotiate  afterwards.  The  princes 
aUied  with  Frederick  were  discouraged  and  submitted  to 
the  Emperor.  The  King  of  Denmark,  Christian  IV., 
who  was  preparing  to  come  to  their  aid,  was  terrified 
when  he  heard  of  James'  procrastination.  "  By  God." 
he  said  to  the  English  ambassador,  "  this  business  is  gone 
too  far  to  think  it  can  be  redressed  with  words  only.  1 
thank  God  we  hope,  with  the  help  of  his  Majesty  of 
Great  Britain  and  the  rest  of  our  friends,  to  give  unto  the 
Count  Palatine  good  conditions.  If  ever  we  do  any  good 
for  the  liberty  of  Germany  and  religion  it  is  now  time." 
James  had  but  words  to  give,  and  Christian  retired  from 
the  conflict  to  wait  for  better  days. 

The  House  of  Commons  was  out  of  humor.  Its 
members  had  the  feelinec  that  they  were  be-     „  _ 

f  ^8.  Temper 

mg  badly  led,  and  yet  they  were  powerless     of  the 
to  secure  another  leader.     They   turned  ^^"^"^^"s. 
fiercely  upon  domestic  grievances. 

Foremost  of  these  were  the  monopolies.  Partly  through 
a  wish  to  encourage  home  manufactures,  partly  through 
a  fondness  for  over-regulation  of  commerce, 
private  persons  were  allowed  by  the  govern-       ^9-  The 

^  ^  .  .  monopolies. 

ment  to  possess  the  sole  right  of  selling 
various  articles  of  trade.  One  set  of  persons,  for  instance, 
was  privileged  to  make  all  the  glass  used  in  England, 
because  these  persons  entered  into  a  compact  not  to  use 
wood  in  their  furnaces,  and  it  was  held  that  the  con- 
sumption of  wood  would  shorten  the  supply  of  timber  for 
the  navy.  Another  set  of  persons  was  allowed  to  make  all 
the  gold  and  silver  thread  used  in  England,  because  they 
promised  to  employ  only  foreign  gold  and  silver  in  the 
manufacture,  and  as  gold  and  silver  were  in  those  days 
believed  exclusively  to  constitute  wealth,  it  was  thought 


34 


The  Spanish  Alliance.  1621. 


to  be  desirable  that  English  wealth  should  not  go  into 
the  melting-pot.  Besides  these  monopolies  there  were 
regulations  for  the  licensing  of  inns,  and  fees  to  be  paid 
to  the  licensers.  As  these  licensers  and  other  persons 
engaged  in  keeping  up  the  monopolies  were  always 
friends  or  dependants  of  Buckingham,  there  was  a  gen- 
eral impression  that  the  courtiers  and  even  the  king 
himself  made  vast  sums  of  money  by  these  proceedings. 
In  reality  the  amount  obtained  by  the  courtiers  was 
grossly  exaggerated,  and  the  king  obtained  little  or  noth- 
ing. Still  there  can  be  no  doubt  that,  even  according  to 
the  theories  of  the  day,  many  of  these  monopolies  ought 
never  to  have  been  granted,  and  that,  especially  in  the 
case  of  the  gold  and  silver  thread,  very  harsh  means 
were  taken  of  enforcing  the  provisions  of  the  grant,  some 
of  which  were  undoubtedly  in  contradiction  to  the  spirit, 
if  not  to  the  letter  of  the  law. 

James  yielded  to  the  storm,  and  abandoned  the  mo- 
nopolies.   But  behind  the  feeling  against  the  monopolies 
was  an  indignation  at  the  traffic  in  place  and 
1 10.  General    power  which  was  being:  carried  on  under  the 

corruption.         ^  ° 

shadow  of  Buckingham's  protection.  The 
Chief  Justice  of  England  had  recently  retired  from  the 
bench,  and  had  received  a  more  lucrative  office  as  Lord 
Treasurer.  "  Take  care,  my  Lord,"  said  Bacon  to  him, 
drily,  as  he  was  going  down  to  Newmarket,  to  receive 
the  staff  which  was  the  symbol  of  his  new  office  ;  *'  wood 
is  dearer  at  Newmarket  than  in  any  other  place  in  Eng- 
land." He  had  in  fact  to  pay  20,000/.  for  the  office.  The 
price  of  a  peerage  was  as  well  known  as  the  price  of  a 
commission  in  the  army  was  known  a  few  years  ago. 

To  the  indignation  thus  aroused  Bacon  was  the  first 
victim.  Raised  to  the  highest  dignity  of  the  law,  he  was 
now  Lord  Chancellor  of  England.    But  the  hope  which 


l62I. 


The  Spaniards  in  the  Palatinate. 


35 


had  been  his  when  he  had  devoted  himself  to  pohtics, 

if  it  remained  at  all,  flickered  with  but  a 

feeble  ray.    Once  he  had  beheved  that  he  g^.-.^^^on's 

^  position. 

might  do  good  service  to  the  State.  He 
lived  to  find  his  advice  taken  on  legal  details,  but  re 
jected  on  high  matters  of  policy.  In  the  building  up  of 
the  royal  authority  he  was  of  infinite  service,  and  it  was 
with  his  good-will,  if  not  under  his  direct  action,  that  a 
series  of  retrenchments,  with  the  help  of  the  growing 
commercial  prosperity  of  the  kingdom,  had  filled  up  the 
deficit,  and  had  freed  the  king  from  the  necessity  of 
seeking  aid  in  time  of  peace  from  the  Commons,  except 
so  far  as  he  needed  money  for  the  payment  of  debts  in- 
curred in  the  past  days  of  extravagance.  But  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  policy  of  England  his  word  was  of  slight 
avail. 

The  blow  which  struck  him  down  reached  him  from 
an  unexpected  quarter.    If  there  was  one  thing  upon 
which  he  prided  himself  more  than  another 
it  was  upon  the  justice  of  his  decisions  as  a     ^  12.  Hisac- 

^  ^  cusation. 

judge.  Charge  after  charge  was  brought 
before  the  Commons  accusing  him  of  bribery,  and  these 
charges  were  by  them  sent  up  to  the  Lords.  At  first  he 
fancied  that  the  charges  were  invented  to  serve  a  politi- 
cal purpose.  If  this  be  to  be  a  Chancellor,"  he  said, 
mournfully,  "  I  think  if  the  great  seal  lay  upon  Hounslow 
Heath,  nobody  would  take  it  up."  But  it  soon  became 
plain,  even  to  him,  that  there  was  real  ground  for  the 
accusation.  In  those  days  a  judge  received  a  merely 
nominal  salary  from  the  government,  and  was  paid  by 
suitors'  fees.  In  Chancery  a  looser  system  prevailed, 
and  the  Lord  Chancellor  was  in  the  habit  of  receiving 
presents  from  the  winning  party  after  a  suit  had  been 
decided.    As  far  as  it  is  possible  to  ascertain  the  truth,  it 


36 


The  Spanish  Alliance,  1621. 


does  not  seem  that  Bacon's  judgments  were  affected  by 
the  money  which  he  received.  But  there  is  no  doubt  that 
he  took  money  when  suits  were  still  undecided,  and  under 
circumstances  which  deprived  him  of  any  valid  excuse 
for  the  action.  His  own  opinion  of  the  case  is  probably, 
in  the  main,  the  true  one.  His  sentence  was  "just,  and 
for  reformation  sake  fit,"  yet  he  was  "  the  justest  Chan- 
cellor "  that  had  been  since  his  father's  time. 

His  sentence  was  heavy.    Stripped  of  his  offices,  fined 
and  imprisoned,  he  owed  the  alleviation  of  his  penalty 
to  the  favor  of  the  king.    He  acknowledged 
^13.  His  sen-    j^jg  fault.    "My  Lords,"  he  said,  "it  is  my 

tence.  '  *  ^ 

act,  my  hand,  my  heart.  I  beseech  your 
lordships,  be  merciful  unto  a  broken  reed."  Never  again 
was  any  judge  accused  of  corruption. 

The  revival  of  impeachments — for,  though  Bacon's 
trial  differed  from  an  ordinary  impeachment  in  some 
details,  it  may  well  be  reckoned  amongst 

2  14,  Revival     ^,  ^     r  ^i      i  •  i  ^ 

of  impeach-  them— was  an  event  01  the  highest  consti- 
ments.  tutional  importance.    In  an  impeachment 

the  House  of  Commons,  acting  as  the  grand  jury  of  the 
whole  country,  presented  offenders  against  the  common- 
wealth to  be  judged  by  the  House  of  Lords,  sitting  as 
judge  and  jury  combined.  In  English  history  impeach- 
ments are  found  in  two  distinct  periods  ;  the  first  reach- 
ing from  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  to  that  of  Henry  VI., 
the  other  reaching  from  the  reign  of  James  I.  to  that  of 
William  III.  This  chronology  speaks  for  itself.  When 
the  predominance  either  of  King  or  Parliament  was 
secured,  it  was  felt  to  be  better  that  political  opponents 
should  be  dealt  with  by  mere  dismissal  from  office,  and 
that  criminal  offences  excepting  during  the  reign  of  terror 
which  marked  the  later  times  of  Henry  VIIL,  should  be 
tried  before  professional  judges.    But  when  Parliament 


l62I. 


The  Loss  of  the  Palatinate. 


37 


was  engaged  in  a  struggle  with  the  kingly  power,  and 
had  not  the  acknowledged  right  to  dismiss  the  ministers 
of  the  crown,  it  seemed  the  best  way  to  give  a  legal  color 
to  the  charge,  whilst  the  accused  were  sent  before  a  tri- 
bunal which  was  strongly  swayed  by  political  feeling. 
In  Bacon's  case  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  indigna- 
tion was  genuine  and  well-founded.  But  when  once  the 
system  was  recalled  to  life,  it  would  be  easy  to  exaggerate 
faults  committed,  and  to  demand  punishment  for  a  crime, 
when  dismissal  for  political  wrong-doing  could  not  other- 
wise be  obtained. 


Section  IV. —  The  Loss  of  the  Palatinate, 

Time  was  passing  rapidly,  and  nothing  serious  had 
been  done  for  the  Palatinate.  Before  the  House  of  Com- 
mons adjourned  for  the  summer,  it  voted  a  ,     ^  , 

g  I,  Declara- 

declaration  of  sympathy  with  the  German  tionofthe 
Protestants,  and  protested  that  if  his  Majesty 
failed  to  secure  peace  by  negotiation,  they  would  be 
ready  to  the  uttermost  of  their  powers,  "  both  with  their 
lives  and  fortunes,  to  assist  him.''  This  declaration,  said 
one  who  was  present,  "comes  from  heaven.  It  will  do 
more  for  us  than  if  we  had  ten  thousand  soldiers  on  the 
march."  It  was  put  and  carried  by  acclamation.  "  It 
was  entertained  with  much  joy  and  a  general  consent  of 
the  whole  House,  and  sounded  forth  with  the  voices  of 
them  all,  withal  lifting  up  their  hats  in  their  hands  as 
high  as  they  could  hold  them,  as  a  visible  testimony  of 
their  unanimous  consent,  in  such  sort  that  the  like  had 
scarce  ever  been  seen  in  Parliament." 

The  mediation  in  Germany  was  entrusted  to  Lord 
Digby,  a  wise  and  experienced  diplomatist,  who  had 


38 


The  Spanish  Alliance, 


1621. 


1 2  Digby's     t)efore  represented  the  King  of  England  at 
mission  to       Madrid.    When  he  reached  Vienna  it  was 
lenna.  ^^^^       interpose.    On  the  one  hand 

Frederick's  alhes  had  fallen  rapidly  from  him  and  had 
made  their  peace  with  the  Emperor.  On  the  other  hand 
he  had  entrusted  the  defence  of  the  Upper  Palatinate  to 
Count  Mansfeld,  an  adventurer  who  was  quite  accus- 
tomed to  live  upon  plunder,  and  who  being  of  necessity 
left  without  money  or  supplies,  had  no  other  means  of 
supporting  his  army.  Ferdinand  expressed  his  readiness 
to  forgive  Frederick  if  he  would  abandon  his  claims, 
withdraw  all  resistance,  and  humbly  acknowledge  his 
offence.  Frederick  announced  that  he  was  ready,  if  the 
possession  of  his  territories  and  honors  were  assured 
him,  to  relinquish  his  claims  to  the  kingdom  of  Bohemia, 
and  to  make  some  formal  acknowledgment  of  submis- 
sion. Before  Digby  could  reconcile  these  conflicting 
views,  war  blazed  up  afresh.  Mansfeld,  unable  to  de- 
fend the  Upper  Palatinate,  retreated  hastily  to  the  Lower, 
followed  by  Tilly  at  the  head  of  the  Imperial  forces. 
When  James  heard  the  news  he  hastily  summoned  Par- 
liament to  ask  for  money  to  enable  him  to  keep  Mans- 
feld's  men  on  foot  during  the  winter. 

The  Commons  agreed  to  give  the  money  for  which 
the  king  asked.    But  between  their  views  and  his  there 
was  a  wide  difference.   The  kinsc  continued 

§  3.  The  Com-  .        ,  ,  ,       ^  it-, 

mens  distrust  to  cntcrtam  a  hope  that  it  he  was  obliged 
of  Spain.  break  with  the  Emperor,  he  might  still 

retain  the  good-will  of  Spain  ;  and  he  had  never  aband- 
oned the  negotiations  for  the  Prince's  marriage  with  the 
Infanta.  The  Commons  saw  that  Spain  had  been  the 
first  to  occupy  towns  in  the  Palatinate.  They  believed 
even  more  than  was  really  the  case  that  Spain  was  the 
prime  offender,  and  that  if  Spain  were  defeated  all  dan- 


l62I. 


The  Loss  of  the  Palatinate, 


39 


ger  would  be  at  an  end.  As  Sir  Robert  Phelps,  the 
most  impetuous  orator  in  the  House,  put  it,  there  was 
the  great  wheel  of  Spain  and  the  little  wheel  of  the  Ger- 
man princes.  If  the  great  wheel  were  stopped,  the  little 
wheel  would  stop  of  itself. 

James  doubtless  knew  more  than  the  Commons  of 
Continental  politics.  But,  as  often  happens,  difference 
of  opinion  on  one  point  is  only  the  outcome  of  far  wider 
differences  in  the  background.  With  the  Commons  the 
Emperor  was  but  a  name  and  nothing  more.  ^  ^  ^he  Com- 
Spain  and  not  the  Emperor  had  interfered  gp  "^^^^^^ 
in  favor  of  the  English  Catholics.  Spain  marriage, 
and  not  the  Emperor  was  trying  by  marrying  the  prin- 
cess to  the  heir  of  the  English  crown  to  get  a  footing 
within  the  fortress,  and  to  subdue  England  by  intrigue 
as  it  was  subduing  the  Palatinate  by  force. 

As  a  matter  of  policy,  James  may  very  likely  have 
been  right  in  wanting  to  fight  the  Emperor  without  hav- 
ing to  fight  Spain  as  well.   But  in  the  main  _  ^ 

°  °         ^  ^  ^  §  5.  James  can- 

the  Commons  were  in  the  right.  Such  a  not  conciliate 
war  as  that  which  was  being  fought  out  on  ^P^^"' 
the  Continent  was  a  war  of  opinion.  The  real  question 
was  whether  Protestantism  should  extend  its  borders  to 
the  detriment  of  Catholicism,  or  Catholicism  should  ex- 
tend its  borders  to  the  detriment  of  Protestantism. 
James,  wisely  enough,  wished  for  neither.  But  as  the 
fight  had  begun,  he  must  either  leave  it  alone  or  throw 
himself  on  the  Protestant  side,  trying  to  moderate  his 
allies  if  they  gained  the  victory.  As  both  parties  were 
thoroughly  excited,  it  was  no  use  to  expect  the  Span- 
iards to  join  him  in  defending  a  Protestant  prince  against 
their  own  friends. 

The  Commons  therefore  were  consistent  in  telling 
James  that  he  ought  to  break  with  Spain  entirely.  They 


40 


The  Spanish  Alliance, 


1621. 


added  that  he  ought  to  put  himself  at  the 
the  Commons,  l^^ad  of  the  Continental  Protestants  against 
Spain.  He  ought  to  enforce  the  penal  laws 
against  the  Catholics  at  home.  He  ought  to  marry  his 
son  to  a  princess  of  his  own  religion. 

To  this  advice  James  refused  even  to  listen.  The 
Commons,  he  said,  had  no  right  to  treat  of  business  on 
I  7  Dissolution  whicli  he  had  not  asked  their  opinion.  They 
of  Parliament,  replied  by  a  protestation  of  their  right  to 
treat  of  any  business  they  pleased.  James  tore  the  pro- 
testation out  of  their  Journal  Book  with  his  own  hands, 
and  dissolved  Parliament. 

It  may  be  that  it  would  have  been  more  prudent  in 
the  Commons  to  engage  James  in  the  war,  and  to  wait 
g  '^^j^^.  of  necessity  brought  on  a  quarrel  with  Spain, 
confidence  in  But  it  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  they 
James,  should  rcpose  confidence  in  the  king.  For 

four  years  everything  that  he  had  undertaken  had  gone 
wrong,  and  it  was  but  too  probable  that  everything  would 
go  wrong  again. 

James  did  not  consider  the  Palatinate  as  lost.  There 
was  an  act  of  Parliament,  in  the  reign  of  Richard  III., 
by  which  kings  were  forbidden  to  levy  mo- 
^9°The1oss  ^icy  from  their  subjects  under  the  name  of 
ofthePaiati-    ^  benevolencc    But  in  1614  the  crown 

nate.  ^ 

lawyers  had  interpreted  this  to  mean  only 
that  nobody  could  be  compelled  to  pay  a  benevolence, 
whilst  there  was  nothing  to  prevent  the  king  from  ask- 
ing his  subjects  to  give  him  money  if  they  chose  to  do 
so.  At  that  time  therefore  a  benevolence  had  been  de- 
manded and  obtained.  Another  was  now  asked  for, 
and  James  thus  got  together  enough  to  pay  Vere's  vol- 
unteers for  a  few  months.  He  tried  diplomacy  once 
more.    But  neither  his  diplomacy  nor  such  arms  as  he 


1623. 


The  Journey  to  Madrid. 


41 


could  command  without  Parliamentary  aid  were  of  any 
avail.  Step  by  step  the  Palatinate  was  lost.  Its  de- 
fenders were  defeated  and  its  fortresses  fell  into  the  en- 
emy's hands.  Spain  was  lavish  of  promises.  But  its 
promises  were  never  fulfilled. 


Section  V. —  The  Journey  to  Madrid. 

Whilst  ambassadors  were  writing  despatches,  Buck- 
ingham allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded  that  there  was 
still  one  path  to  success  if  every  other  failed.  If  he  could 
take  the  Prince  with  him  to  court  the  Infanta  at  Madrid 
the  Spaniards  would  hardly  dare,  in  the  „ 

r        ^  1-  r  .        §  1.  The  idea 

face  of  such  a  compliment,  to  refuse  to  give  of  the  Spanish 
him  the  Palatinate  as  a  wedding  present.  J^^^^^^* 
Charles  was  easily  persuaded,  and  the  two  young  men 
told  the  king  what  they  were  going  to  do. 

The  old  man  was  much  troubled.   He  fancied  that  he 
should  never  again  see  his  son, — Baby  Charles,  as  he 
playfully  called  him.    But  he  had  never 
been  able  to  say  no  in  his  life  to  any  one  he  Lformed^^ 
loved,  and  he  could  not  do  so  now.  With 
a  heavy  heart  he  gave  the  permission  which  had  been 
asked  only  as  a  matter  of  form. 

Charles  and  Buckingham  put  on  false  beards,  and 
started  as  Tom  and  John  Smith.  When  they  passed  the 
ferry  at  Gravesend,  the  Prince  gave  the 

r         1  1  -1  A.  D.  1023. 

boatman  a  purse  of  gold.  Supposing  them  1 3.  The 
to  be  duellists  intending  to  cross  the  sea  to  3°^'""^^- 
fight,  the  man  gave  information  to  the  magistrate,  and 
a  chase  was  ordered.  But  the  picked  horses  of  Buck- 
ingham's stable  were  not  easily  to  be  run  down,  and  the 
party  got  clear  off.  At  Canterbury  they  were  taken  for 
murderers  escaping  from  justice,  and  Buckingham  had 
E 


42 


The  Spanish  Alliance.  1623. 


to  pull  off  his  beard  and  show  himself,  inventing  a  story 
to  account  for  his  unexpected  presence.  After  this  there 
was  no  further  difficulty.  At  Paris  Charles  saw  his  fu- 
ture wife,  a  child  of  thirteen,  the  Princess  Henrietta 
Maria  ;  but  he  does  not  seem  to  have  taken  much  no- 
tice of  her.  Arriving  without  further  adventure  at  Ma- 
drid, he  knocked  at  the  door  of  the  English  ambassa- 
dor, the  Lord  Digby  who  had  been  employed  at  Vienna, 
and  had  recently  been  created  Earl  of  Bristol. 

The  King  of  Spain  received  the  Prince  with  every 
demonstration  of  friendliness.  In  truth,  be  was  in  a  sad 
dilemma.  He  had  no  objection  to  seeing  the  Palatinate 
given  back,  provided  that  he  could  do  it  without  injuring 
his  Church  or  offending  his  kinsman  the 
Lrds^n\^^^""  Emperor.  If  it  could  be  arranged  that 
dilemma.  Frederick's  sons  should  be  brought  up  at 
Vienna,  no  doubt  they  would  be  persuaded  to  become 
Catholics,  and  everything  would  be  properly  settled. 
Then  again,  there  was  the  difficulty  about  the  marriage 
of  his  sister  the  Infanta  Maria.  He  had  never  meant 
that  it  should  come  to  anything  unless  James  would  grant 
such  complete  liberty  of  worship  to  the  English  Catholics 
as  to  give  them  a  chance — a  certainty  as  ardent  Span- 
iards thought — of  reconverting  England.  And  now  the 
poor  girl  had  been  crying  bitterly,  and  assuring  him  that 
even  under  such  circumstances  she  could  not  possibly 
marry  a  heretic.  Her  confessor  had  worked  her  up  to  a 
pitch  of  despair.  "What  a  comfortable  bed-fellow  you 
will  have,"  he  said  to  her;  "he  who  lies  by  your  side, 
and  who  will  be  the  father  of  your  children,  is  certain  to 
go  to  hell. " 

At  first,  escape  from  these  difficulties  seemed  not  so 
very  hard.  Surely,  thought  the  Spaniards,  the  Prince 
would  never  have  come  to  Madrid  if  he  had  not  meant 


1623. 


The  Journey  to  Madrid, 


43 


to  be  converted.    Charles  encouraged  the    ^  ^^^^  ^ 
notion  by  holding  his  tongue  in  his  usual 

to  convert 

silent  way.    They  plied  him  with  arguments 

and  got  up  a  religious  conference  in  his  presence.  But 

he  had  no  mind  to  pay  attention  to  anything  of  the  kind, 

and  Buckingham  behaved  to  the  priests  with  special 

rudeness. 

If  the  Spaniards  could  not  convert  the  Prince,  the 
next  best  thing  was  to  throw  on  some  one  else  the  blame 
of  their  refusal  to  allow  him  to  marry  the 
Infanta.    There  could  be  no  marriage  with  that  dfe^Pope^ 
a  Protestant  without  the  Pope's  leave,  and  ^^^^ 

^  '  marriage. 

as  they  knew  that  the  Pope  disliked  the 
marriage,  they  hoped  that  he  would  refuse  to  allow  it. 
But  the  Pope  was  too  wary  for  that.  He  thought  that  if 
the  marriage  was  broken  off  by  him  Charles  and  his 
father  would  take  vengeance  for  their  disappointment 
on  the  English  Catholics.  If  it  was  broken  off  by  the 
King  of  Spain,  they  would  only  be  angry  with  the  Span- 
iards. He  granted  the  permission  on  condition  that  the 
King  of  Spain  would  swear  that  James  and  Charles  would 
perform  the  promise  which  they  were  required  to  make 
in  favor  of  the  English  Catholics. 

What  was  the  king  to  do  ?  How  could  he  possibly 
swear  that  James  would  fulfil  his  promise  ?  He  referred 
his  case  of  conscience  to  a  council  of  theo- 
logians, and  the  theologians  decided  that  of th? King" 
the  best  way  to  secure  James'  fulfilment  of  °^  Spam, 
his  promises  was  to  keep  the  Infanta  in  Spain  for  a  year 
after  the  marriage  had  taken  place.  By  that  time  it 
would  be  seen  what  had  been  really  done  in  England. 
The  advice  thus  given  was  adopted  by  Philip. 

Charles  writhed  under  the  pressure  put  upon  him.  At 
one  time  he  bristled  up  in  anger  and  declared  that  he 


44 


The  Spanish  Alliance, 


1623. 


would  go  home  to  England.  But  he  could 
fcA^e  making  ^^^^  himself  away.    Step  by  step  he 

offered  to  do  more  and  more  for  the  English 
Catholics,  hoping  that  he  would  be  allowed  in  return  for 
mere  words  to  take  his  bride  with  him.  It  was  all  in 
vain.  His  attempts  at  making  love,  too,  were  singularly 
unfortunate.  One  day  he  jumped  over  the  wall  into  a 
garden  in  which  the  Infanta  was  walking.  The  young 
lady,  who  thoroughly  detested  her  heretic  admirer, 
shrieked  and  fled.  On  another  occasion  he  was  allowed 
to  pay  a  visit  to  his  mistress  in  the  presence  of  all  the 
court,  and  some  formal  words -were  set  down  which  he 
was  expected  to  utter.  Unable  to  restrain  himself  he 
began  to  declare  his  affection  in  words  of  his  own  choice. 
At  once  the  bystanders  began  to  whisper  to  one  another. 
The  queen  frowned,  and  the  Infanta,  though  she  was 
deeply  annoyed,  and  had  lately  been  heard  to  say  that 
the  only  consolation  which  she  could  find  in  the  marriage 
was  that  she  should  die  a  martyr,  had  sufficient  self- 
possession  to  speak  the  words  set  down  for  her  and  to 
bring  the  interview  to  an  end. 

In  England  the  Infanta's  feeling  was  fully  reciprocated. 
Even  James  had  never  realized  at  all  that  he  would  be 

required  to  concede  so  much.  "We  are 
§  9.  The  mar-    buildins^  a  temple  to  the  devil,"  he  said,  in 

nage  treaty.  ^ 

speaking  of  the  chapel  which  he  was  re- 
quired to  prepare  for  the  Infanta.  But  he  dared  not  risk 
his  son's  safety  by  refusing  anything  that  was  asked.  He 
swore,  and  forced  his  council  to  swear,  to  the  treaty  as  it 
was  sent  to  him.  The  Infanta  was  to  have  her  public  church 
to  which  all  Englishmen  who  chose  might  have  access. 
She  was  to  control  the  education  of  her  children  during 
the  impressionable  years  of  childhood.  The  Catholics  were 
to  be  allowed  liberty  of  worship  in  their  private  houses. 


1623.  The  Journey  to  Madrid. 


45 


Much  of  this  sounds  innocent  enough  now.  But  it  was 
not  thought  innocent  then.  The  rehgion  which  was  to 
be  tolerated  was  backed  by  a  vast  organiza- 
tion with  powerful  fleets  and  armies  at  its  po^puiaJi^^i^' 
back.  The  change  was  to  be  effected  not 
because  it  was  a  good  change,  but  because  it  was  desi- 
rable to  please  the  master  of  those  fleets  and  armies. 
The  marriage  itself  was  an  offence  to  England.  The 
English  kingship  had  been  the  centre  of  resistance  to  a 
foreign  Church  and  a  foreign  enemy.  Who  could  tell 
whether  James'  grandchildren  would  not  be  on  the  side 
of  that  foreign  Church  and  of  that  foreign  enemy  ?  It 
was  no  mere  question  of  this  theology  or  that  theology. 
It  was  the  whole  framework  of  life,  present  and  to  come, 
which  was  threatened.  The  Spanish  marriage  treaty,  it 
may  fairly  be  said,  threw  back  the  cause  ot  toleration  for 
half  a  century.  It  awoke  again  the  old  Protestant  resist- 
ance, and  gave  new  life  to  Puritanism-  James  had 
,  drawn  nearer  to  Spain,  but  had  opened  a  gap  between 
himself  and  England. 

At  Madrid  Charles  promised  all  that  his  father  had 
promised,  and  a  little  more.    He  hoped  that  his  compli- 
ance would  extract  permission  for  the  In- 
fanta to  accompany  him.    But  it  could  not  ?  Charles' 

^       ''  return. 

be.  The  theologians  were  resolute  to  the 
contrary,  and  their  decision  was  final.  Charles  learned, 
too,  how  little  hope  there  was  of  recovering  the  Palati- 
nate. In  high  dudgeon  he  left  Madrid.  As  he  was 
travelling,  he  was  asked  by  a  Spaniard  who  was  accom- 
panying him  whether  he  wished  the  carriage  to  be 
opened.  "  I  should  not  dare,"  he  replied  ironically,  "  to 
give  my  assent  without  sending  post  to  Madrid  to  consult 
the  theologians."  At  Santander  he  found  an  English 
€eet  awaiting  him.    On  board  he  felt  himself  free  at  last. 


46  The  Ascendancy  of  Buckingham,  1624. 

He  landed  at  Portsmouth  with  a  resolute  determination 
never  to  marry  the  Infanta. 


CHAPTER  HI. 

THE  ASCENDANCY  OF  BUCKINGHAM. 

Section  I. —  The  last  Parliament  of  James  /. 

With  Buckingham  and  Charles  exasperated  against 
Spain,  it  would  have  been  hard  for  James,  under  any 
circumstances,  to  remain  on  friendly  terms 

3 1.  James  com-      •  ,     ,  .  -r^  i      •  n 

veiled  to  break  With  that  nation.  But  even  if  the  influence 
with  Spain.  j^.g  j^jg  favorite  had  been  re- 

moved, he  could  hardly  have  gone  on  much  longer  in 
his  old  course.  It  was  quite  plain  that  Spain  would  not 
help  him  to  regain  the  Palatinate  with  the  sword,  and  it 
was  also  quite  plain  that  without  the  sword  he  was  not 
likely  to  regain  the  Palatinate  at  all.  He  hesitated, 
doubted,  changed  his  mind  from  day  to  day ;  but  unless 
he  meant  to  give  up  his  daughter  and  her  children,  there 
was  nothing  for  it  but  to  prepare  for  war. 

Parliament  was  accordingly  summoned.    It  met  on 
February  19,  1624.    Lashed  to  anger  against  Spain  by 
the  events  of  the  past  years,  the  Commons 
§2.  FeeHngs      wcrc  ready  to  join  in  Buckingham's  vocifer- 

Parliament  attempt   of  the 

King  of  Spain  to  make  his  daughter  Queen 
of  England  exasperated  them  more  than  his  attempt  to 
place  his  ally  in  possession  of  Heidelberg.  The  very 
fact  that  the  Spanish  marriage  treaty  was  at  an  end 
made  them  somewhat  cooler  about  the  Palatinate.  No 
doubt  they  still  cared  about  the  fortunes  of  the  German 


1624. 


The  last  Parliament  of  Ja7nes  I. 


47 


Protestants,  but  they  no  longer  felt  that  their  own  for- 
tunes were  so  directly  involved  in  the  ruin  of  their  neigh- 
bors. Nor  were  they  well  acquainted  with  German 
affairs,  and  when  the  king  talked  to  them  of  the  great 
expense  of  the  war,  they  fancied  that  he  was  leading 
them  into  unnecessary  and  extravagant  operations.  But 
they  voted  only  just  enough  money  to  strengthen  the  de- 
fences of  England  and  Ireland,  to  set  out  a  fleet,  and  to 
send  help  to  the  Dutch  in  their  struggle  against  Spain. 
They  were  not  ready  to  engage  in  war  in  Germany  with- 
out further  information. 

James  knew  that  nothing  but  a  great  Continental  alli- 
ance would  win  back  the  Palatinate.    But  he  did  not  like 
to  give  up  his  plan  of  working  together  with 
some  Catholic  power.  If  he  could  not  marry     ,    3-  The 

\  ^       king  s  ideas. 

his  son  to  the  sister  of  the  King  of  Spain, 
he  would  marry  him  to  the  sister  of  the  King  of  France. 
England  and  France  combined  would  settle  the  affairs 
of  Germany. 

The  plan  did  not  please  the  Commons.  They  did  not 
wish  to  have  a  Roman  Catholic  queen  at  all.  They 
were  afraid  that  the  marriage  treaty  would  ^  ^  Declara 
contain  some  fresh  promise  of  toleration  for  tion  of  war 
the  English  Catholics.  But  Charles  and  Postponed. 
James  solemnly  declared  that  they  would  make  no  such 
promise.  James  accepted  the  supplies  which  had  been 
already  voted,  on  the  understanding  that  the  Houses  were 
to  meet  again  in  the  winter  to  vote  more  if  it  was  needed. 
The  king  would  have  time  to  send  ambassadors  about 
Europe  to  see  who  would  help  him  before  he  made  any 
further  demand  upon  the  Commons. 

In  the  meantime  work  was  found  for  Parliament. 
Lionel  Cranfield,  earl  of  Middlesex,  was  Lord  High 
Treasurer.    He  had  done  more  than  any  other  man 


48 


The  A scendancy  of  Buckingham .  1624. 


to  rescue  the  finances  from  disorder.  He 
inddlesex^  ^  careful  guardian  of  the  pubhc  purse. 

But  he  disHked  war  with  Spain  because  it 
would  be  expensive,  and  had  done  his  best  to  keep  the 
king's  mind  in  a  peaceful  mood.  Such  conduct  drew 
down  upon  him  the  displeasure  of  Buckingham  and  the 
Prince,  as  well  as  the  displeasure  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. It  was  easy  to  find  an  excuse  for  attacking  him. 
In  providing  for  the  king's  necessities  he  had  not  forgot- 
ten to  heap  up  a  fortune  for  himself.  The  Commons  im- 
peached him  for  corruption,  Buckingham  and  Charles 
hounding  them  on.  Middlesex  was  stripped  of  his  office 
and  heavily  fined.  The  shrewd  old  king  warned  his 
favorite  and  his  son  of  the  danger  they  were  incurring 
by  encouraging  such  attacks  upon  ministers  of  the  crown. 
"  You  will  live,"  he  said,  ''to  have  your  bellyful  of  im- 
peachments." 

The  French  were  not  so  easily  won  as  the  English 
government  supposed.  Lewis  XIII.  hated  Spain  and 
5  rpj^e  Emperor,  and  was  ready  to  encourage 

French  anybody  who  proposed  to  fight  against  his 

alliance.  enemies.    But  he  was  a  devoted  Catholic, 

and  had  no  idea  of  giving  his  sister  in  marriage  unless 
something  were  done  for  the  English  Catholics.  Buck- 
ingham, eager  for  war,  young  and  sanguine  as  he  was, 
fancied  that  it  was  worth  while  for  the  king  to  break  his 
promise  to  secure  the  help  of  France.  Buckingham  per- 
suaded Charles,  and  Charles  persuaded  his  father.  The 
treaty  was  signed  by  the  end  of  the  year.  The  Princess 
Henrietta  Maria  was  to  be  Queen  of  England. 

Buckingham  dared  not  suffer  James  to  meet  Parlia- 
ment to  vote  money  for  the  war,  when  Parliament  was 
sure  to  upbraid  the  king  with  breach  of  pro- 

\  7.  Prepara-  .  ^  .  ,  i  i    i  ,  . 

tionsforwar.    mise.    But  neither  could  he  give  up  his 


1624. 


The  last  Parliament  of  James  /. 


49 


military  designs.  Money  was  promised  freely  in  all 
directions.  There  was  to  be  money  for  the  Dutch 
Republic,  money  for  the  King  of  Denmark,  money  for 
an  English  fleet  to  sail  against  Spain,  money  for  a  joint 
expedition  to  be  undertaken  by  France  and  England  for 
the  recovery  of  the  Palatinate. 

The  joint  expedition  was  entrusted  to  Mansfeld.  But 
the  moment  it  was  proposed  to  send  him  into  Germany 
the  French  began  to  raise  objections.  They 
wanted  the  men  to  be  used  for  purposes  of  ?  ^-  Mansfeid's 

^     ^  expedition. 

their  own,  and  insisted  that  Mansfeld  should 

go,  at  least  at  first,  to  help  the  Dutch  in  their  struggle 

with  Spain. 

Twelve  thousand  Englishmen,  torn  from  their  homes 
by  the  king's  command,  were  entrusted  to  Mansfeld. 
They  gathered  at  Dover  and  passed  over 
into  Holland.  James  managed  to  give  them  "^ts^faaure 
a  little  money  to  begin  with.  But  without  a 
Parliament  to  vote  supplies,  he  soon  came  to  the  bottom 
of  his  treasury.  The  men  arrived  in  Holland  without 
provisions  and  without  money  to  buy  any.  Frost  set  in, 
and  disease  broke  out.  In  a  few  weeks  nine  thousand 
out  of  the  whole  number  were  counted  amongst  the  dead 
or  dying. 

Such  was  Buckingham's  first  experience  of  making 
war  without  national  support.  In  spite  of  all 
he  pushed  blindly  on.    New  schemes  of  i  Bucking- 

^  nam  s  schemes. 

fighting  filled  his  imagination,  each  one  in 

succession  more  extensive  and  more  costly  than  the  last. 

Before  any  fresh  disaster  occurred,  James  died.  With 
hesitation  and  reluctance  he  had  followed  , 

.  March  27. 

Buckmgham  m  almost  everythmg  that  he     i  n.  Death 
proposed.    The  new  king  was  ready  to  fol-  J^mes. 
\ow  him  without  either  hesitation  or  reluctance. 


5 o  The  Ascendancy  of  Buckingham.  1625. 


Section  II. —  The  first  Parliament  of  Charles  /. 

In  many  respects  Charles  was  the  opposite  of  his 
father.  He  was  stately  and  dignified,  fond  of  outward 
form  and  ceremony.  In  dealing  with  the  world  James 
was  apt  to  leave  much  to  chance,  believing 
andhisTather  ^^^^  things  would  come  right  in  the  end  if 
he  left  them  alone.  Charles  had  no  such 
belief.  If  he  thought  that  things  ought  to  be  done  in  a 
certain  way,  he  could  not  endure  that  they  should  be 
done  in  any  other  way.  But  he  had  neither  the  energy 
nor  the  capacity  required  for  the  wise  conduct  of  affairs, 
and  he  lived  too  much  in  a  world  of  his  own  ideas  to  in- 
fluence men  whose  thoughts  he  was  unable  to  compre- 
hend. In  early  life  at  least  this  confidence  in  his  own 
judgment  was  accompanied  by  shyness.  He  did  not 
like  to  be  opposed,  and  fell  back  upon  silence.  Hence 
doubtless  his  attachment  to  Buckingham.  Buckingham's 
fault  was  the  very  opposite  to  shyness.  He  took  up 
Charles'  notions  and  translated  them  into  action  before 
Charles  knew  what  he  was  about.  Charles  wanted  to 
get  back  the  Palatinate  for  his  sister,  but  he  did  not  know 
how  to  do  it.  Before  he  could  solve  the  riddle  for  him- 
self, Buckingham  had  engaged  him  in  half  a  dozen  plans 
for  getting  what  he  wanted.  He  clung  to  his  favorite  as 
a  dumb  man  clings  to  him  who  understands  his  signs  and 
interprets  them  to  the  bystanders. 

As  soon  as  the  new  queen  was  safely  in  England  and 
it  was  too  late  to  forbid  the  banns,  Parliament  was  sum- 
moned. Money  was  sorely  needed.  But 
first  Parfia-  how  was  Charlcs  to  ask  for  it?  The  last 
ment.  Parliament  had  separated  on  the  under- 

standing that  it  should  meet  again  in  the  winter  to 


1625.       The  first  Parliavient  of  Charles  /.  51 


arrange  for  the  further  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  that 
no  concessions  should  be  made  to  the  Enghsh  Cathohcs. 
The  Parhament  which  now  met  found  that  war  had  been 
undertaken  without  asking  its  advice,  and  that  it  had  re- 
sulted in  a  terrible  disaster.  Though  the  concessions  to 
the  Catholics  had  been  kept  secret,  it  was  shrewdly  sus- 
pected that  Charles  had  broken  his  promises.  Charles 
accordingly  simply  asked  for  money  to  support  the  war, 
without  naming  any  sum  in  particular.  The  Commons, 
after  petitioning  him  to  execute  the  laws  against  the 
Catholics,  voted  him  a  small  sum  of  140,000/.  His  en- 
gagements could  not  be  covered  by  1,000,000/. 

That  the  opposition  of  the  Commons  should  have 
taken  such  a  form  is  remarkable.  It  may  be  that  they 
cared  less  for  the  war  now  that  they  were 
well  rid  of  Spanish  influence  over  the  Eng-  lositkm^of  the 
lish  government.  But  it  was  not  their  fault  Commons, 
if  they  were  fairly  puzzled.  They  had  not  been  told  how 
much  money  was  wanted  or  why  it  was  wanted.  All 
they  knew  was  that  the  one  expedition  which  had  actually 
been  sent  out  had  ended  in  an  utter  failure,  and  that  no 
excuse  or  explanation  had  been  offered.  They  had  no 
confidence  in  Buckingham,  and  when  the  king  at  last 
sent  a  message  explaining  for  what  purposes  he  wanted 
the  money,  they  doubted  the  sincerity  of  all  that  was 
said  to  them.    They  declined  to  give  a  farthing  more. 

The  king  could  not  understand  the  meaning  of  con- 
duct so  strange.    He  ordered  the  Houses  to  meet  again 
at  Oxford,  and  directed  his  secretaries  to 
give  all  necessary  explanations.    The  Com-  Lent\?°"^^" 
mons  replied  by  expressing  complete  want 
of  confidence  in  Buckingham.    If  they  could  be  sure 
that  the  money  would  be  spent  under  advice  better  than 
his  they  would  give  it,  but  not  otherwise. 


U.  OF  lU.  LSB. 


i 


52  The  Ascendancy  of  Buckingham.  1625. 


Charles  had  made  so  many  promises  that  he  could 
not  keep  them  all.    He  had  promised  the  King  of  France 
that  he  would  not  persecute  the  Catholics, 
can  get^no^"^     He  had  promised  his  own  Parliament  that 
money.  would  not  tolcrate  them.    He  now  made 

up  his  mind  to  do  as  his  own  subjects  wished.  But  the 
Commons  were  not  to  be  led  astray.  They  believed 
that  they  might  as  well  throw  money  into  the  sea  as  en- 
trust it  to  Buckingham,  and  they  let  Charles  know  as 
much. 

Charles  felt  instinctively  that  to  abandon  Buckingham 
was  to  put  himself  under  the  tutelage  of  the  Commons. 

If  they  were  to  settle  who  were  to  be  the 
tion?f  Padia-    ministers  of  the  crown,  they  would  be  able 

to  control  ministers,  who  could  only  keep 
their  places  at  the  good  pleasure  of  Parliament.  The 
two  Houses  would  thus  become  practically  the  sovereigns 
of  England.  Rather  than  submit  to  this  Charles  dis- 
solved the  Parliament. 

He  hoped  to  be  able  before  many  months  were  past 
to  meet  a  new  Parliament  with  all  the  prestige  of  a  great 

victory.  All  the  money  on  which  he  could 
\  r*  CacTiz^^^^  hands  was  spent  in  fitting  out  a  fleet 

with  a  large  land  force  on  board.  Lord 
Wimbledon  who  commanded  it  was  ordered  to  take 
some  Spanish  town,  and  then  to  lie  in  wait  for  the  fleet 
which  annually  brought  to  Spain  the  produce  ofthemines 
of  America.  To  the  end  of  his  life  it  was  always  Charles' 
mistake  to  fancy  that  if  he  brought  together  a  large  fleet 
or  a  numerous  army  he  might  do  anything  he  liked. 

It  could  not  be  so.  Th,e  greater  part  of  the  fleet  was 
made  up  of  merchant  vessels  pressed  into  the  king's 

service  with  their  crews.  The  landsmen 
!n  Cadrz^Bay.   had  been  torn  from  their  homes  by  force. 


The  Fleet  for  Cadiz, 


53 


A  few  officers  in  the  king's  service  wished  to  succeed. 
But  the  greater  part  of  the  force  only  cared  to  escape 
with  a  whole  skin.  When  Wimbledon  sailed  into 
Cadiz  Bay  and  ordered  an  attack  upon  a  fort  which 
defended  the  harbor,  the  chief  efforts  of  the  masters  of 
the  pressed  vessels  were  directed  to  keeping  out  of  the 
way  of  the  shot.  If  there  was  a  want  of  devotion  in  the 
lower  ranks  there  was  a  want  of  intelligence  in  the  offi- 
cers. When  the  fort  at  last  surrendered,  Wimbledon 
led  his  men  away  from  the  town  many  miles  in  pursuit 
of  an  imaginary  enemy.  He  forgot  to  take  food  with 
him,  and  after  a  long  march  on  a  hot  summer's  day  the 
men  were  starving.  Then  he  allowed  them  to  drink 
wine,  and  as  it  turned  out  that  there  was  plenty  of  wdne 
to  be  had,  the  whole  army,  with  the  exception  of  a  hand- 
ful of  officers,  soon  became  helplessly  drunk.  A  Spanish 
detachment  might  have  slaughtered  them  all.  When 
Wimbledon  marched  back  the  next  day  there  was 
nothing  to  be  done.  Cadiz  was  too  strong  to  be  taken. 
Putting  to  sea,  he  began  to  look  out  for  the  treasure 
ships.  But  the  treasure  ships  sailed  into  Cadiz  Bay  two 
days  after  Wimbledon  left  it,  and  after  keeping  watch  in 
vain  off  the  coast  of  Portugal,  the  English  vessels  hurried 
home  with  tattered  sails  and  starving  crews.  Charles 
would  not  be  able  to  appear  before  Parliament  in  the 
guise  of  a  conqueror. 

Whilst  Wimbledon  was  at  Cadiz,  Buckingham  had 
gone  to  Holland  to  raise  up  a  great  confederacy  against 
Spain  and  the  allies  of  Spain.  He  had 
promised  30,000^.  a  month  to  the  king  of  ^i?am?n^Hd- 
Denmark,  and  if  Wimbledon  had  returned 
victorious  he  would  probably  have  found  little  difficulty 
in  persuading  the  Commons  to  grant  the  supplies  he 
needed.    But  Wimbledon  had  done  nothing,  and  there 


5  4  The  Ascendancy  of  Buckhigham .  1625. 


was  little  hope  that  a  second  Parliament  would  prove 
more  compliant  than  the  first. 

Section  III. —  The  Impeachment  of  Buckingham^  and 
the  Expedition  to  Rhe, 

Charles'  position  was  the  more  dangerous  as  he  was 
on  the  brink  of  a  contest  with  France.  Lewis  XIII.  had 
taken  umbrage  at  Charles'  renewed  perse- 
fent  to^thl^^^^  cution  of  the  English  Catholics  in  defiance 
French.  j^-^  pj-Qmises,  and  Charles  had  been  in- 

sensibly drawn  on  to  interfere  in  the  internal  affairs  of 
France.  Before  James  died  the  Protestants  of  Rochelle 
had  revolted  against  the  French  king,  and  James  had 
hastily  consented  to  lend  an  English  squadron  to  assist 
Lewis  to  put  down  rebellion.  In  the  spring  of  1625 
Charles  and  Buckingham  wished  to  draw  back,  and  not 
daring  openly  to  break  their  engagements,  sent  secret 
orders  to  the  commander  of  the  fleet  to  get  up  a  mutiny 
on  board  his  own  ships,  that  they  might  be  brought  back 
to  England  apparently  against  the  wish  of  the  king. 
The  plan  succeeded  for  a  time.  But  news  arrived  that 
Lewis  and  his  subjects  were  at  peace,  and  Charles 
fancied  that  he  might  curry  favor  with  him  by  sending 
the  ships  now  that  they  would  be  of  no  real  service. 
The  news  of  peace  turned  out  to  be  untrue,  and  Lewis 
kept  Charles'  ships  without  owing  him  any  thanks,  whilst 
Englishmen  who  knew  nothing  of  all  these  manoeuvres 
blamed  Charles  for  lending  the  ships  at  all,  to  be  used 
against  Protestants  abroad. 

Other  causes  of  dissatisfaction  arose.  Charles  held 
that  French  ships  had  no  right  to  carry  the  goods  of  his 
^  ^  enemies,  the  Spaniards,  seized  the  vessels 
1 2.  Further  and  sold  the  goods.  Even  Charles'  efforts 
disputes.  avert  a  breach  were  imprudent.    In  or- 


1625.        The  Impeachment  of  Buckingham.  5  5 


der  that  he  might  obtain  the  co-operation  of  France  in 
the  German  war,  he  mediated  a  peace  between  Lewis 
and  his  subjects,  and  made  himself  morally  responsible 
for  the  execution  of  its  conditions,  a  responsibility  which 
was  sure  to  lead  him  sooner  or  later  to  give  offence  to 
Lewis. 

When  Parliament  met,  many  of  the  leaders  of  the 
last  session  were  absent.  Charles  had  been  clever 
enou2[h  to  make  them  sheriffs,  and  as  sher-  ^ 

.  §  3.  Meeting 

iffs  were  wanted  in  their  own  counties,  they  of  Parliament, 
could  not  be  at  Westminster  at  the  same 
time.  His  cleverness  about  the  sheriffs  met  with  as  little 
success  as  his  cleverness  about  the  ships.  The  House 
found  in  Sir  John  Eliot  a  leader  even  abler  and  far  more 
vehement  than  those  who  had  been  kept  away. 

EHot  had  already  made  himself  a  name  as  the  first 
orator  of  the  day.  But  he  had  not  cared  to  lift  up  his 
voice  much  in  the  last  Parliament.  Person- 
ally attached  to  Buckingham,  he  had  been  lij^f^^-^^^" 
loth  to  admit  the  conviction  to  his  mind 
that  Buckingham  was  an  incumbrance  to  his  country. 
That  thought  once  admitted,  there  were  no  bounds  to 
Eliot's  abhorrence.  He  loved  England  with  all  the 
passionate  enthusiasm  which  Pericles  felt  for  Athens^ 
and  he  trusted  in  the  House  of  Commons  as  no  man 
ever  trusted  before  or  since.  It  was  for  him  in  a  very 
real  sense  the  collective  wisdom  of  the  nation.  Kings 
and  rulers  had  but  to  consult  the  House  of  Commons, 
and  they  would  find  wisdom  there.  With  this  confi- 
dence in  men  whom  he  knew  to  be  in  earnest  was  joined 
a  faith  in  all  pure  and  noble  deeds,  and  a  contemptuous 
abhorrence  of  all  things  mean  and  base.  In  the  follies 
of  the  splendid  favorite  he  saw  greed  and  selfishness, 
and  deliberate  treason  to  his  beloved  country. 


56  The  Ascendancy  of  Buckmgham.  1626. 


What  wonder  if  Eliot  called  for  inquiry  into  the  mis- 
management which  had  led  to  so  many  disasters  by 
.    ^  , .        sea  and  land.    What  wonder  if  he  traced 

6  5.  Bucking- 
ham's impeach-  the  cause  of  all  evil  to  the  traitorous  wicked- 
ness of  Buckingham.  Before  long  the  Com- 
mons impeached  the  minister.    The  tale  of  crime,  real 
and  imaginary,  was  unrolled  in  the  ears  of  men,  and 
the  Lords  were  called  upon  to  visit  with  the  severest 
penalties  the  man  who  had  made  himself  all-powerful 
in  order  that  he  might  ruin  the  State  for  selfish  ends. 
Charles  was  deeply  vexed.    One  day  he  heard  that 
Eliot  had  branded  Buckingham  as  Sejanus. 
of%?r\?a°men'r  "         is  Scjanus,"  he  muttered,  "  I  must  be 
Tiberius."  If  the  Commons  exaggerated  the 
worst  traits  of  Buckingham's  character,  Charles  dwelt 
exclusively  on  his  better  qualities,  his  frank  and  open 
bearing,  his  undaunted  courage,  his  devotion   to  his 
master's  interests.    Rather  than  abandon  his  minister 
he  dissolved  Parliament  before  it  had  voted  a  single 
sixpence. 

Charles'  first  hope  was  that  the  nation  would  give 
him  what  the  Commons  had  refused.  A  demand  for  a 
I  7  The  free  ^^^^  ^^^^  support  the  war  was  made  in 
gift.  every  county.    But  with  few  exceptions  the 

inhabitants  of  the  counties  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  de- 
mand. 

Some  one  suggested  that  if  men  could  not  be  forced 
to  give  money  to  the  king,  they  had  often  been  made 
to  lend.    The  King  of  Denmark  suffered  a  grievous  de- 
feat at  Lutter,  mainly  from  want  of  the  suc- 
l  ^-  cors  which  Charles  had  promised  him.  In 

lorced  loan.  ^ 

order  that  help  might  be  sent  him,  Charles 
ordered  the  collection  of  a  forced  loan. 

Before  the  money  came  in  it  was  evident  that  but  little 


1627. 


The  Expedition  to  RhL 


57 


of  it  would  be  spent  in  sending  aid  to  the  King  of  Den- 
mark.   The  ill-feehng  between  France  and      ,  ^. 

.  §  9.  Dispute 

England  was  increasing.  Lewis,  now  under  between  France 
the  guidance  of  Richelieu,  the  great  French  England, 
statesman  of  the  age,  had  made  peace  with  his  Protes- 
tant subjects  in  the  hope  that  Charles  would  enter  into 
active  operations  in  Germany.  Charles,  who  had  no 
money  to  employ  in  fighting,  haggled  over  the  terms  of 
the  alliance,  and  put  himself  ostentatiously  forward  as 
the  protector  of  the  French  Protestants.  Lewis,  who 
dared  not  embark  in  a  war  in  Germany  if  there  was  a 
chance  of  Charles'  coming  to  the  assistance  of  any  of 
his  subjects  who  might  choose  to  revolt,  prepared  to  lay 
siege  to  the  great  Protestant  seaport  of  Rochelle,  which 
was  entirely  independent  of  his  authority.  Charles  felt 
himself  in  honor  bound  to  come  to  its  defence. 

Other  causes  of  dispute  were  not  wanting.  The  French 
attendants  of  the  queen  taught  her  to  regard  herself  as 
injured  because  Charles  had  broken  his 
promises  in  favor  of  the  English  Catholics.  dis^mS'sdof 
He  could  not,  he  said,  count  his  wife  his  own  h^useholJ 
as  long  as  they  were  there,  and,  without 
thought  of  the  engagements  which  pledged  him  to  keep 
the  queen's  household  as  it  was,  he  drove  her  attendants 
out  of  England. 

The  natural  result  was  war  between  France  and  Eng- 
land.   The  forced  loan  was  driven  on  to      .  ^  . 

A.  D.  1627. 

supply  the  means.  Chief  Justice  Crewe,  I  II.  War 
refusing  to  acknowledge  its  legality,  was  dis-  ^^^^^  France, 
missed.  Poor  men  who  refused  to  pay  were  sent  as 
soldiers  into  foreign  service.  Rich  men  were  summoned 
before  the  council  and  committed  to  prison.  By  these 
harsh  measures  a  considerable  sum  was  scraped  together. 
A  handful  of  men  was  despatched  to  help  the  King  of 
F 


58 


The  Ascendancy  of  Buckingham. 


1627. 


Denmark  in  Germany,  and  a  stately  fleet  of  a  hundred 
sail,  carrying  a  large  force  on  board,  was  prepared  to  go 
under  Buckingham's  command  to  the  relief  of  Rochelle. 

On  July  12  the  English  troops,  after  a  sharp  contest 
with  the  enemy,  landed  on  the  Isle  of  Rhe,  which,  if  it 
came  into  Buckingham's  hands,  would  be  an 
pedition^to^'  admirable  point  of  vantage  for  the  defence 
of  the  neighboring  Rochelle.  On  July  17 
Buckingham  commenced  the  siege  of  St.  Martin's,  its 
principal  fortress.  The  ground  was  rocky,  and  the  siege 
was  soon  converted  into  a  blockade.  On  September  27 
the  garrison  had  but  three  days'  provisions  left,  and 
opened  negotiations  for  a  surrender.  In  the  night  thirty- 
five  boats,  favored  by  a  stiff  breeze,  dashed  through  the 
English  blockading  squadron,  and  revictualled  the  place. 
The  besieged  had  respite  for  two  months  longer. 

If  reinforcements  could  reach  Buckingham  to  enable 
him  to  keep  up  the  numbers  which  were  thinned  by  dis- 
ease, all  might  yet  go  well.  Charles  at  home 
1 13.  The         ureed  his  ministers  to  the  utmost.  But 

retreat.  ^ 

money  and  men  were  hard  to  find.  Buck- 
ingham's rise  had  been  too  sudden,  and  his  monopoly 
of  the  king's  favor  too  complete,  to  give  him  much 
chance  of  a  favorable  judgment  from  the  higher  classes, 
and  now  no  man  who  was  not  a  creature  of  the  court 
trusted  Buckingham  any  longer.  Before  the  reinforce- 
ments could  reach  him  the  end  had  come.  A  French 
force  had  landed  on  the  island,  and  Buckingham,  after 
one  hopeless  attempt  to  storm  the  fort,  gave  orders  for  a 
retreat.  Mismanagement  completed  the  ruin  which  an 
evil  policy  had  begun.  The  French  fell  upon  the  invaders 
as  they  struggled  to  regain  their  ships,  and  of  6,800  Eng- 
lish troops  less  than  3,000,  worn  with  hunger  and  sick- 
ness, were  landed  in  England. 


i628. 


The  Petition  of  Right, 


59 


Section  IV. —  The  Petition  of  Right  and  the  Assassina- 
tion of  Buckingham, 

After  the  failure  at  Rhe  Buckingham's  unpopularity 
reached  its  highest  pitch.    "  Since  England  ^  ^  ^^^^ 
was  England,"  we  find  in  a  letter  of  the  time,  November. 
**  it  received  not  so  dishonorable  a  blow."  faritJ^f^Buc'k- 
The  fault  that  had  occurred  was  laid  upon  ^"g^^'^- 
Buckingham. 

Five  of  the  prisoners  who  were  suffering  for  their  re- 
fusal to  pay  the  loan  were  inspirited  to  appeal  to  the 
Judges  for  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  which 
would  enable  them  to  be  fairly  tried  upon  \lrp!^^l^- 
any  charge  which  the  king  had  to  bring  n^anded. 
against  them.    But  the  king  had  named  no  charge,  and 
the  Judges  were  of  opinion  that  within  some  undefined 
limits  it  was  for  the  king  to  decide  whether  prisoners 
should  be  tried  or  not. 

Neither  Buckingham  nor  Charles  had  any  thought  oi 
stopping  the  war.  A  fleet  was  got  ready  under  Bucking- 
ham's brother-in-law,  the  Earl  of  Denbigh, 
to  carry  provisions  to  Rochelle,  which  was  ^'j.^charles' 
now  besieged  by  the  French,  and  a  Parlia-  J^^^^  Parlia- 
ment was  summoned  to  grant  supplies  for 
the  payment  of  the  fleet. 

The  leader  who  gave  the  tone  to  the  opening  debates 
was  Sir  Thomas  Wentworth.    Sprung  from 
a  wealthy  and  ancient  house  in  Yorkshire,  ?  4- Sir  Thomas 

^  Wentworth. 

he  was  inspired  by  a  lofty  consciousness  of 
his  own  consummate  abilities  as  a  speaker  and  a  states- 
man. In  every  point  he  was  the  very  opposite  of  Eliot. 
He  disbelieved  entirely  in  the  wisdom  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  thought  it  very  unlikely  that  a  large  and 
heterogeneous  body  could  ever  undertake  the  govern- 


6o 


The  Ascendancy  of  Buckingham, 


1628. 


ment  of  a  great  kingdom  with  advantage.  Believing 
that  important  reforms  and  wise  government  were  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  the  well-being  of  England,  and 
knowing  that  such  a  rule  as  he  wished  to  see  could  only 
be  evolved  from  the  intellect  of  the  few,  he  was  apt  to 
forget  that  without  the  support  of  the  many,  the  few  who 
were  wise  would  be  unable  to  get  their  wishes  carried 
out,  and  that  even  if  they  succeeded  for  a  time,  it  would 
only  be  by  crushing  that  life  and  vigor  in  the  body  of 
the  nation  out  of  which  alone  any  permanent  order  could 
be  evolved. 

The  contrast  between  Eliot  and  Wentworth,  in  short, 
may  be  best  illustrated  by  an  imaginary  conflict  between 
the  heart  and  the  brain  to  be  considered  the 
I  ^•J^^y^^'^'^^^  chief  organs  of  the  human  body.    Eliot  was 

with  Eliot.  °  ^ 

for  the  heart,  Wentworth  for  the  brain.  Eliot 
was  right  in  saying  that  government  could  not  be  carried 
on  except  in  agreement  with  the  representatives  of  the 
nation.  Wentworth  was  right  in  saying  that  it  could  not 
be  carried  on  except  by  men  possessing  qualities  above 
those  of  the  average  member  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. 

Around  this  conflict  of  opinion  the  course  of  the  com- 
ing revolution,  so  far  at  least  as  it  was  a  political  revolu- 
^6.  Both  op-  tion,  was  to  turn.  For  the  present,  the  two 
p  >sed  to  Buck-  great  men  could  work  toe^ether.    The  rule 

ingham.  *=•  ^  ° 

of  Buckingham  was  detestable,  both  to  the 
intellect  and  to  the  feeling  of  the  nation.  Wentworth 
and  Eliot  could  join  in  putting  a  stop  to  that. 

After  much  discussion,  a  Petition  of  Right,  that  is  to 

say,  a  declaration  that  certain  rights  of  the 
Petition  of       nation  which  had  been  violated  must  be  ac- 

knowledged  for  the  future,  was  presented  to 
the  king.    To  some  of  its  demands  Charles  raised  no  ob- 


1628. 


The  Petition  of  Right. 


61 


jection.  He  was  ready  to  promise  never  again  to  raise  a 
forced  loan,  or  to  compel  householders  to  receive  soldiers 
against  their  will,  or  to  give  a  commission  to  military 
officers  to  execute  martial  law  in  time  of  peace.  But  he 
shrank  from  promising  that  he  would  never  send  any  one 
to  prison  without  showing  the  cause  for  which  he  had 
done  so.  The  concession,  in  fact,  was  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance. Whatever  the  law  may  have  been,  the  king 
had  been  in  the  habit  of  sending  men  to  prison  when  he 
thought  fit,  and  had  sometimes  left  them  there  untried.  If 
a  cause  was  shown,  the  Judges  could  at  once  be  appealed 
to  by  the  prisoner  to  appoint  a  day  for  the  trial,  that  it 
might  be  known  whether  the  charge  was  true  or  not. 
The  final  decision  on  state  offences  would  then  be  in  the 
hands  of  a  judicial  court,  and  not  in  the  hands  of  the 
king. 

Charles  struggled  long  against  this  conclusion.    But  he 
needed  money.    Denbigh  had  come  back  from  Rochelle, 
having  completely  failed  to  carry  in  the  pro- 
visions with  which  he  was  charg-ed.  A  more  ^^yai 

°  assent  to  it. 

powerful  fleet  must  be  fitted  out.  Yet,  unless 
Charles  assented  to  the  Petition,  the  Commons  would 
grant  no  supplies.  He  tried  hard  to  get  over  the  diffi- 
culty by  an  evasive  answer.  The  Commons  stood  firm, 
and  on  June  7  the  great  Petition  became  the  law  of  the 
land. 

The  Petition  of  Right  is  memorable  as  the  first  Act 
which  circumscribed  the  exuberant  powers  which  the 
Tudors  had  bequeathed  to  the  Stuarts.    But     „    ^  , 

,        1     ,      .      .         r  1  Further 

It  was  but  the  begmnmg  of  a  great  change.  changes 
It  decided  that  every  prisoner  should  have 
a  trial  before  the  Judges,  if  he  asked  for  it ;  but  it  took 
no  precautions  that  the  trial  should  be  a  fair  one.  Unless 
a  capital  offence  had  been  committed  the  case  might  be 


62  The  Ascendancy  of  Buckingham.  1628. 


brought  before  the  Star  Chamber,  or  the  High  Commis- 
sion, both  of  them  under  the  immediate  influence  of  the 
king,  and  punishing  without  the  intervention  of  a  jury. 
Even  the  ordinary  Judges  were  much  under  the  king's 
control.  They  were  appointed  to  their  places  by  him,  and 
they  might  be  dismissed  by  him.  Without  being  con- 
sciously hypocritical,  they  were  likely  to  take  the  same 
view  of  things  which  was  taken  at  court.  The  alteration 
made  by  the  petition  could  not  be  fully  felt  till  the  Judges 
became  independent  of  the  crown,  as  they  did  after  the 
Revolution  of  1688. 

It  was  not  in  this  direction  that  the  Commons  imme- 
diately turned  their  attention.    They  wanted  many  things 
to  be  changed  in  Church  and  State.  Above 
§  10.  Proro-      2^  ^]^gy  wanted  to  be  rid  of  Buckingham. 

gallon.  '        ^  ° 

Sooner  than  listen  to  the  language  which 
was  uttered,  Charles,  having  by  this  time  got  the  money 
he  needed,  prorogued  the  Houses.  Buckingham  was  to 
command  the  fleet  which  was  going  once  more  to 
Rochelle,  and  if  Buckingham  won  a  victory,  the  Com- 
mons would,  perhaps,  not  take  so  harsh  a  view  of  his 
character  when  they  reassembled. 

In  August  Buckingham  was  at  Portsmouth,  making 
ready  for  embarkation.    He  knew  how  widely  dissatis- 
faction at  his  conduct  had  kindled  into  bitter 
fngham^at^"      hatred  to  his  person.    But  for  assassination 
Portsmouth.  prepared.    A  friend  had  begged 

him  to  wear  a  shirt  of  mail  beneath  his  clothes.  A  shirt 
of  mail,"  he  answered,  "would  be  but  a  silly  defence 
against  any  popular  fury.  As  for  a  single  man's  assault, 
I  take  myself  to  be  in  no  danger.  There  are  no  Roman 
spirits  left."  He  little  knew  that  one  gloomy  fanatic  was 
dogging  his  steps.  John  Felton  had  served  as  an  officer 
in  the  Expedition  to  Rhe.    He  had  been  refused  promo- 


1628. 


The  Petition  of  Right. 


63 


tion,  and  when  he  returned,  he  was  left,  hke  most  men 
in  the  king's  service  were,  with  his  salary  unpaid.  In 
his  misery,  he  caught  eagerly  at  the  tales  of  which  the 
air  was  full,  and  fed  his  mind  upon  a  declaration,  pro- 
ceeding from  ihe  Commons,  that  the  Duke  was  a  public 
enemy.  He  bought  a  knife,  in  order,  as  he  said,  to 
avenge  himself,  his  country,  and  his  God. 

On  the  morning  of  August  23,  Felton  stationed  him- 
self at  the  entrance  of  the  room  in  which  Buckingham 
was  breakfasting.    As  the  Duke  stepped 
out,  the  murderer  struck  him  heavily  in  the        Murder  of 


breast,  saying,  "  God  have  mercy  upon  thy 
soul !  "  as  he  dealt  the  blow.  The  man  who  till  now  had 
been  the  ruler  of  England  fell  dead  to  the  ground.  His 
wife,  warned  that  something  terrible  had  happened, 
rushed  out  with  shrieks  of  agony  in  her  night-dress  from 
her  bed-room  into  a  gallery  which  overlooked  the  scene. 

Felton  was  seized,  and  after  due  trial  met  the  fate 
which  he  deserved.   The  fleet  was  sent  out  under  another 
commander.    But  there  was  no  heart  in  the 
sailors,  no  resolution  in  the  commanders.  ^  ^^'f^^^^^^f^ 


England  was  weary  of  the  war  which  had 
been  entered  on  so  recklessly  and  conducted  with  so 
little  capacity.     Rochelle  surrendered  to  the  French 
government.    Charles  was  left  alone  to  bear  the  weight 
of  unpopularity  which  failure  had  caused. 


6<t 


The  Personal  Government  of  Charles  I.  1628. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  PERSONAL  GOVERNMENT  OF  CHARLES  1. 

Section  I. —  Taxation  and  Religion. 

The  feeling  of  antagonism  which  had  sprung  up  between 
Charles  and  the  Commons  boded  ill  for  the 
§  I.  Tonnage  re-cstabHshment  of  a  good  understanding 
and  poundage,  between  them,  even  after  the  immediate 
stone  of  offence  had  been  removed  by  Buckingham's 
death.  One  point  of  extreme  delicacy  had  been  touched 
during  the  final  debates  of  the  last  session.  For  many 
reigns  the  habitual  practice  of  the  Commons  had  been 
to  vote  to  each  king,  for  life,  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign* 
certain  duties  on  exports  and  imports,  known  as  tonnage 
and  poundage.  Partly  through  the  desire  of  the  Com- 
mons to  obtain  a  settlement  in  their  favor  of  the  vexed 
question  of  the  impositions,  partly  through  the  interrup- 
tion caused  by  their  dispute  with  the  crown,  tonnage  and 
poundage  had  not  yet  been  voted  when  Parliament  was 
prorogued  in  June  1628.  At  the  last  moment  the  House 
had  prepared  a  remonstrance  stating  that  the  levy  of 
these  duties  without  its  consent  was  illegal  by  the  Peti- 
tion of  Right,  a  statement  which  an  impartial  tribunal 
would  doubtless  fail  to  justify  by  the  wording  of  the 
Petition  ;  whilst  Charles  fell  back  upon  the  decision  of 
the  Judges  in  the  case  of  the  impositions  in  his  father's 
reign,  which  gave  him  the  weight  of  their  authority  in 
levying  any  customs  duties  he  pleased. 

Almost  immediately  after  the  prorogation  some  Lon- 
don merchants  refused  to  pay  the  duties  on  their  goods. 


1628. 


Taxation  and  Religion. 


65 


These  goods  were  at  once  seized.  The  Court 
of  Exchequer  decided  that  the  question  of  fion  referred  to 
legahty  must  be  argued  before  it,  and  that  Parliament, 
in  the  meanwhile  the  goods  were  to  remain  in  the  king's 
store-houses.  But  the  government  was  not  anxious  to 
rest  upon  legal  arguments.  Charles  made  up  his  mind 
to  waive  for  the  present  his  claim  under  the  former  judg- 
ment in  the  case  of  impositions,  and  to  hope  that  in  the 
next  session  he  might  come  to  an  understanding  with  the 
Commons  which  would  remove  all  difficulties. 

Whatever  the  legal  merits  of  the  case  may  have  been, 
the  question  of  tonnage  and  poundage  was 
the  question  of  the  sovereignty  of  England.  tance'of  the 
Charles  could  not  govern  the  country  without  question, 
this  money,  and  if  the  claim  of  the  Commons  was  ad- 
mitted, they  might  demand  anything  they  liked  as  the 
price  of  their  grant.  The  Commons  would  become  su- 
preme, and  the  king  would  have  to  surrender  all  those 
special  powers  which  had  been  bequeathed  to  him  by  the 
Tudors. 

Men  seldom  fight  for  power  unless  they  have  some 
special  use  to  which  they  wish  to  put  it.  It  is  therefore 
improbable  that,  unless  the  Commons  had  ,    ^  . 

,     J  .  ....  ,  I  A-  Religious 

had  some  important  object  m  view,  there  difficuhi-s. 
would  have  been  much  difficulty  in  coming  testantism°of 
to  an  arrangement.  Unhappily  there  was  '^^^  Commons, 
still  a  cause  of  division  which  was  likely  to  give  as  much 
trouble  as  had  been  given  by  the  revolt  of  the  nation 
against  the  administrative  blunders  of  Buckingham. 
The  fear  of  danger  to  Protestantism  from  the  engage- 
ments of  James  with  Spain,  and  from  the  engagements 
of  Charles  with  France,  had  produced  its  effect  upon  the 
temper  of  the  upper  classes  of  the  nation  which  were 
mainly  represented  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Puri- 


66       TJie  Personal  Government  of  Charles  /.  1628. 


tanism  in  the  sense  of  a  rejection  of  the  Prayer  Book  as 
a  whole,  or  of  a  general  disposition  to  change  the  exist- 
ing ecclesiastical  arrangements,  had  no  existence  except 
with  a  very  small  minority.  But  there  was  a  general 
disposition  to  lay  stress  upon  the  special  Calvinistic  doc- 
trine on  the  subject  of  predestination,  which  most  Eng- 
lishmen of  that  generation  had  been  brought  up  to 
believe,  and  to  regard  any  deviation  from  it  as  a  sur- 
render to  the  Papal  Church.  Every  year  the  fear  of 
papal  aggression  grew  stronger.  On  the  Continent  the 
Catholic  powers  had  been  winning  their  way  to  a  supre- 
macy of  which  there  had  been  no  example  since  the 
great  victories  of  the  Reformation.  In  1622  the  Palati- 
nate had  been  lost  to  Protestantism.  In  1626  the  Danish 
resistance  had  been  broken  at  Lutter,  and  now  the  whole 
of  North  Germany,  with  the  exception  of  two  or  three 
seaport  towns,  lay  helpless  at  the  feet  of  Wallenstein  and 
Tilly.  In  France  Rochelle  had  succumbed  to  Richelieu, 
and  men  could  hardly  believe  as  yet  that  the  statesman- 
ship of  the  Cardinal  was  in  earnest  in  granting  liberty 
of  religion  to  the  conquered. 

Whilst  the  mass  of  thinking  men  was  thus  lashed  into 

indignation  against  anything  which  savored 
reacnon'^^^  of  faithlcssncss  to  Protcstantism,  there  was 
Calvinism        ^  small  but  growing  minority  amongst  the 

clergy  which  cared  very  little  for  the  tyranny 
of  the  Emperor  and  the  Pope  in  Germany,  and  very 
much  for  the  tyranny  of  the  dominant  Calvinists  at  home. 
They  questioned  the  received  theology  in  scornful  terms. 
In  1625  the  Commons  took  up  the  challenge  by  sum- 
moning to  their  bar  Richard  Montague,  who  had  written 
a  book  denying  the  popular  doctrine  to  be  the  doctrine 
of  the  Church  of  England.  In  1626  they  impeached 
him  as  a  disturber  of  the  peace  of  the  church  and  com- 


1628.  Taxation  and  Religion. 


67 


monwealth.  Unity  of  belief  was  to  be  the  corner-stone 
of  national  unity.  No  opinions  at  variance  with  those 
which  had  prevailed  in  the  last  generation  were  to  be 
promulgated  in  England,  if  the  Commons  could  have 
their  way. 

The  zeal  of  the  Commons  for  unity  of  belief  was  not 
merely  theological.  Montague  and  those  who  agreed 
with  him  had  thrown  themselves  into  the 
arms  of  the  king.  In  1627  they  were  fore-  ^ppohitments. 
most  in  urging  the  duty  of  paying  the  forced 
loan,  and  one  of  their  number,  Roger  Manwaring, 
preached  sermons  which  spoke  of  parliaments  as  mere 
ciphers  in  the  state.  Charles,  in  his  irritation  against 
the  Commons,  showed  favor  to  the  men  who  had  stood 
by  him  in  his  difficulties.  Immediately  after  the  proro- 
gation in  1628  he  made  Montague  a  bishop,  and  gave  a 
good  living  to  Manwaring.  Men  who  held  opinions  thus 
widely  distasteful  were,  it  seemed,  to  use  the  position 
which  they  owed  to  the  favor  of  their  sovereign  in  order 
to  inculcate  doctrines  of  arbitrary  power  in  the  State,  as 
well  as  to  be  set  to  govern  the  Church,  and  to  treat  with 
derision  the  belief  of  masses  of  earnest  men. 

Before  the  end  of  the  year  Charles,  with  the  assent  of 
the  bishops,  promulgated  a  form  of  agreement  which  he 
undoubtedly  intended  to  be  conciliatory. 
The  king's  declaration,  which  is  to  this  day  king's d^^ 
prefixed  to  the  Articles  in  the  Common  ciaration. 
Prayer  Book,  is  the  key  to  Charles'  ecclesiastical  policy. 
It  was  his  duty,  he  asserted,  not  to  suffer  unnecessary 
questions  to  be  raised,  which  might  nourish  faction  both 
in  the  church  and  commonwealth.  The  Articles  were 
therefore  to  be  taken  in  their  literal  sense  and  no  one 
was  hereafter  to  venture  to  put  his  own  sense  or  com- 
ment on  their  meaning.    Men  were,  in  short,  to  hold 


68       The  Personal  Governynent  of  Charles  I.  1629. 


their  tongues  on  the  controversy  of  the  day.  Such  a 
settlement  was  undoubtedly  better  than  the  refusal  of 
all  liberty  of  speech  which  the  Commons  wished  to  esta- 
blish, because  it  avoided  the  infliction  of  any  penalty 
upon  opinion.  But  it  was  necessarily  a  settlement  which 
would  be  one-sided  in  operation.  To  the  Calvinist  the 
doctrine  of  predestination  was  part  of  his  creed  which 
could  not  be  buried  in  silence  without  hazarding  the 
rest.  His  opponent  simply  held  that  it  was  a  question 
which  no  one  could  possibly  understand,  and  which 
therefore  ought  not  to  be  discussed  in  the  pulpit. 

Section  II. 

The  Breach  between  the  King  and  the  Commons, 

When  the  Commons  met,  they  first  turned  their  at- 
tention to  the  question  of  tonnage  and  poundage.  On 

the  one  hand  they  waived  their  appeal  to 
^iVetdng  Petition  of  Right.    On  the  other  hand 

of  the  the  king  waived  his  claim  to  demand  pay- 

Houses.  Ill  .     ,  r  . 

ment  under  the  judgment  m  the  case  of  im- 
positions. He  asked  them  to  vote  him  the  duties  and 
leave  the  question  of  legality  unsettled. 

Unluckily,  this  question,  difficult  in  itself,  was  com- 
plicated by  another.    Rolle,  one  of  the  merchants  whose 

goods  had  been  seized,  was  a  member  of  the 
^2.  RoUe's       House  of  Commons,  and  the  Commons  ar- 

pnvilege.  ' 

gued  that  whatever  might  have  been  done 
to  the  other  merchants,  the  custom-house  officers  had  no 
right  to  touch  the  property  of  a  member  of  their  House. 
The  whole  subject  was,  however,  postponed  till  the  state 
of  religion  had  been  taken  into  consideration. 

The  vehemence  of  the  Commons  rose  at  once  to  fever 
pitch.    New  ideas  had  been  broached,  new  ceremonies 


1629.    Breach  between  the  King  and  Commons,  69 


introduced.  It  would  have  been  hard  enough 

for  them  to  swallow  the  notion  that  all  men  .  ?  3-  Religious 

innovations. 

could  not  believe  as  they  did  on  the  subject 
of  predestination.  But  it  seemed  intolerable  that  clergy- 
men should  be  found  to  speak  of  priests  and  altars.  In 
Durham  Cathedral  especially,  there  had  been  great 
changes,  and  the  services  had  been  made  very  much 
what  they  are  in  cathedrals  at  the  present  day.  Parts  of 
the  service  were  sung  which  had  not  been  sung  before, 
and  the  communion  table,  which  had  formerly  stood  at 
the  north  door,  and  had  been  moved  into  the  middle  of 
the  choir  when  required  for  the  communion,  had  been 
permanently  fixed  at  the  east  end  of  the  chancel. 

The  Commons  flung  themselves  first  upon  the  doc- 
trinal difference.  They  declared  that  their  interpretation 
of  the  Articles  was  true,  and  that  every 
other  interpretation  was  false.  They  could  "^^^^  common°^ 
not  bear  to  hear  that  the  belief  of  the  nation 
was  to  be  settled  by  the  clergy  apart  from  the  laity. 
Then  they  proceeded  to  deal  with  the  ceremonial  changes. 
They  summoned  the  authors  of  these  innovations  to 
answer  as  culprits  at  the  bar. 

Before  the  delinquents  could  arrive  in  London  some 
time  must  elapse,  and  the  House  turned  back  to  the  ques- 
tion of  tonnage  and  poundage.  They  applied  themselves 
to  it  with  minds  inflamed  by  the  ecclesiastical 
debates.    To  srive  the  kins^  these  duties  was,  ?  5- Privilege 

^  ^  again. 

as  they  believed,  to  place  means  in  his 
hands  to  lay  the  English  Church  captive  at  the  feet  of 
the  Pope.  And  yet  it  was  difficult  to  meet  the  king  on 
any  broad  ground.  Charles  was  strong  in  his  reference 
to  the  Judges,  and  though  it  might  be  a  political  necessi- 
ty that  the  House  of  Commons  should  set  aside  a  doctrine 
,naintained  by  the  Judges,  it  involved  a  breach  of  con- 


yo       The  Personal  Government  of  Charles  I.  1629. 


stitutional  arrangements  which  would  completely  alter 
the  balance  of  power  in  the  State.  It  seemed  easier  to 
make  their  attack  upon  the  point  of  privilege,  and  they 
summoned  the  custom-house  officers  who  had  seized 
Rolle's  goods  to  answer  for  their  insolence. 

So  far,  under  Eliot's  leadership,  the  House  had  gone. 
Yet  this  particular  claim  to  privilege,  whether  technically 
right  or  not,  was  outrageous.    Rolle's  goods 

1 6.  Ehot  been  seized  when  Parliament  was  not 

and  Pym. 

sitting.  The  House  of  Commons  was  not 
thereby  deprived  of  his  services  for  an  instant,  and  if 
special  aid  was  to  be  given  to  Rolle,  it  would  follow  that 
means  might  be  found  to  enable  a  merchant  who  was  a 
member  of  the  House  to  escape  payment  when  nothing 
could  be  done  for  another  merchant  who  was  in  a  less 
fortunate  position.  Of  all  members  in  the  House  there 
was  none,  not  even  Eliot,  whose  patriotism  was  under 
less  suspicion  than  John  Pym.  In  opposition  to  the 
ecclesiastical  policy  of  the  government  he  went  as  far  as 
any  man,  and  he  had  taken  his  full  share  in  the  discus- 
sions which  led  to  the  Petition  of  Right.  Yet  now  he 
distinctly  refused  to  follow  Eliot.  "  The  liberties  of  this 
House,"  he  said,  are  inferior  to  the  liberties  of  this 
kingdom.  To  determine  the  privileges  of  this  House  is 
but  a  mean  matter,  and  the  main  end  is  to  establish 
possession  of  the  subjects."  Pym's  advice,  in  short,  was 
to  meet  the  difficulty  in  the  face,  to  claim  for  all  men  the 
right  of  refusing  to  pay  the  duty  till  it  had  been  voted  by 
Parliament. 

Pym's  advice  had  the  merit  of  founding  the  inevitable 
quarrel  on  broad  grounds  in  which  all  men  were  equally 
^  concerned.     The  House  chose  to  follow 

March  2. 

1 7.  Adjourn-  Eliot.  Charles  refused  to  allow  his  officers 
jSouse.    ^      to  be  called  to  the  bar.    They  had  but 


1629.    Breach  between  the  King  and  Commons.  71 


obeyed  his  orders,  and  they  must  not  suffer  for 
their  obedience.  He  commanded  an  adjournment  of 
the  House  to  March  2,  and  entered  into  private  nego- 
tiations with  the  leadirg  members,  in  the  hope  that 
means  of  escaping  the  difficulty  might  yet  be  discovered. 

The  negotiations  came  to  nothing,  and  on  the  appointed 
day  the  Commons  met,  only  to  receive  a  fresh  order  for 
adjournment.    There  were  those  among-st  _ 

,  ,       ,  .         ,  1.       ,     .  g  8.  Tumult 

them  who,  believmg  that  a  dissolution  was  in  the 
imminent,  determinedto  make  a  declaration  ^o"^^- 
which  should  serve  as  an  appeal  to  the  people.  As  the 
Speaker  was  preparing  to  leave  the  chair,  two  members. 
Holies  and  Valentine,  stepped  rapidly  forward,  and  held 
him  down  by  force,  whilst  Eliot  stood  up  to  put  to  the 
vote  a  motion  which  he  had  drawn  up  in  concert  with 
his  friends.  Amidst  tumult  and  confusion,  the  stormy 
debate,  if  debate  it  can  be  called,  proceeded.  A  rush 
was  made  to  set  the  Speaker  free.  Another  rush  was 
made  to  keep  him  in  durance.  The  doors  were  locked, 
and  one  of  the  members  put  the  key  in  his  pocket. 
When  order  was  at  last  restored,  and  Eliot  proposed  to 
put  his  resolutions  to  the  vote,  neither  Speaker  nor  clerk 
would  take  the  responsibility  of  reading  them.  At  last, 
just  as  the  king  was  approaching  the  door  with  an  armed 
force.  Holies,  who  had  a  copy  of  the  resolutions  in  his 
pocket,  read  them  amid  shouts  of  assent 

The  resolutions  were  plain  enough  to  be  understood 
of  all  men.  Whoever  brought  in  innovations  in  religion, 
or  introduced  opinions  disagreeing  from 
those  of  the  true  and  orthodox  Church;  f ^^^i^t^ons^'^''^ 
whoever  advised  the  levy  of  tonnage  and 
poundage  without  a  grant  from  Parliament ;  whoever 
voluntarily  paid  those  duties ;  was  to  be  counted  an 
enemy  to  the  kingdom  and  a  betrayer  of  its  liberties. 


72       The  Personal  Gev eminent  of  Charles  L  1629. 


!nd'ofthe  shouts  of  "  Aye,  aye !"  rang  out  on 

Parliament.  every  side,  the  doors  were  flung  open,  and 
the  members  poured  forth  in  a  throng.  For  more  than 
eleven  years  no  Parliament  met  again  in  England. 

Those  who  had  led  the  opposition  by  which  Charles* 
hopes  were  frustrated,  were  marked  out  for  vengeance. 

The  Petition  of  Right  needed  additional 
Lent  of  buttresses  before  it  could  form  a  barrier 

andEUor  against  the  sovereign's  will.  Chambers, 
one  of  the  merchants  who  had  refused  pay- 
ment of  the  duties,  was  brought  before  the  Star  Chamber 
for  the  utterance  of  a  few  rash  words  in  contempt  of  the 
privy  council,  and  was  sentenced  to  a  fine  of  2,000^., 
and  to  an  imprisonment  which  lasted  for  many  years. 
Eliot,  with  those  who  had  supported  him  on  the  day  of 
the  adjournment,  was  thrown  into  prison,  and  brought 
before  the  Court  of  King's  Bench.  The  cause  of  com- 
mitment was  signified,  and  the  provisions  of  the  Petition 
were  complied  with.  But  the  Petition  had  omitted  to 
state  under  what  conditions  a  prisoner  ought  to  be  ad- 
mitted to  bail,^  and  Charles,  by  a  mixture  of  violence  and 
persuasion,  procured  from  the  Judges  an  offer  of  bail 
upon  terms  which  the  prisoners  dechned  to  accept. 
When  the  case  came  on  for  trial  the  prisoners  were 
charged  with  riot  and  sedition.  True  to  Eliot's  princi- 
ples, they  refused  to  acknowledge  that  any  court  had  a 
right  to  meddle  with  actions  done  in  Parliament.  The 
Judges  acknowledged  that  they  had  no  authority  to 
interfere  with  regular  parliamentary  proceedings.  But 
the  charge  was  that  these  members  had  taken  part  in  a 
riot  and  sedition,  and  the  judges  held  that  riot  and  sedi- 
tion could  never  be  held  to  be  a  parliamentary  proceed- 
ing. As  Eliot  and  the  others  still  refused  to  answer,  fine 
and  imprisonment  were  imposed  upon  them. 


1629.    Breach  betiveen  the  King  and  Commons. 


73 


Eliot's  comrades  made  their  submission  actually  or 
tacitly  one  by  one,  and  were  allowed  again  to  mingle  in 
the  world.    Eliot  alone  remained  honorably      ,  . 

^  12.  Eliot  s 

obdurate.  His  was  the  one  unbending  will  political 
which  never  could  be  broken.  Not  one 
word  would  he  speak  which  could  be  tortured  into  an  ac- 
knowledgment that  any  power  on  earth  could  interfere 
with  the  supremacy  of  Parliament  over  the  words  and 
actions  of  its  members.  There  was  to  be  one  spot  on 
earth  which  the  king's  authority  could  not  reach.  To 
claim  such  an  independence  was  to  claim  more  than  in- 
dependence. If  Parliament  was  not  subject  to  the  king, 
it  would  soon  become  his  master.  That  was  the  issue 
which  before  long  was  to  be  fought  out  in  England. 
Eliot  was  in  his  generation  the  first,  the  greatest  champion 
of  the  doctrine  that  Parliament  was  the  controlling 
power  of  the  constitution,  the  doctrine  which  had  been 
in  abeyance  during  the  Tudor  reigns,  but  which  had 
been  acknowledged  fitfully  but  effectually  in  earher 
days.  No  doubt  there  was  a  difference  between  the 
parliamentary  supremacy  of  the  fifteenth  century  and 
the  parliamentary  supremacy  claimed  in  the  seventeenth. 
In  the  Mediaeval  Parliaments  the  Lords  had  led  and  the 
Commons  had  followed.  Eliot  would  have  had  the 
Commons  to  lead  and  the  Lords  to  follow.  The  Upper 
House  in  the  days  of  Charles  I.  was  but  a  shadow  of  its 
former  self.  It  had  suffered  from  the  proscriptions  of 
the  Tudors ;  had  suffered  still  more  from  the  numerous 
and  sometimes  unworthy  creations  of  the  Stuarts.  The 
Lower  House  had  become  the  main  depository  of  the 
national  dignity  and  of  the  national  will. 

Of  the  doctrine  of  parliamentary  supremacy  Eliot  was 
now  to  become  the  martyr.    Cooped  up  in  the  Tower 
without  air  or  exercise,  his  health  gave  way.    From  his 
G 


74       The  Personal  Government  of  Charles  I.  1629. 


pitiless  gaolers  no  relaxation  was  to  be 
g  13.  Death  hoped.  His  weakened  form  and  sunken 
of  Ehot.  cheek  soon  gave  evidence  of  the  consump- 

tion which  was  wasting  his  strength  within.  In  Decem- 
ber, 1632,  after  an  imprisonment  of  three  years  and  a 
half,  the  soul  of  the  patriotic  orator  passed  away.  Charles, 
vindictive  to  the  end,  refused  him  even  the  privilege  of 
a  burial  in  his  Cornish  home.  "  Let  the  body  of  Sir 
John  Eliot,"  he  answered  to  a  request  from  the  dead 
man's  children,  "be  buried  in  the  place  where  he 
died." 

Section  III. 

The  Beginnings  of  Unparliamentary  Government. 

If  Charles  had  been  asked  whether  he  intended  to 
tread  the  law  and  constitution  under  foot,  he  would  have 

shrunk  back  with  horror  at  the  thought.  He 
tionaf  posi-^^  would  have  replied  that  he  was  in  truth  the 
Common^.        supporter  of  the  law.    Always,  in  theory, 

and,  since  the  accession  of  the  House  of 
Tudor,  in  practice  as  well,  Parliament  had  been  but  the 
great  council  of  the  king.  The  king  had  been  the  centre 
of  government,  the  acting  power  round  which  all  else  re- 
volved. What  the  Commons  now  demanded  was  to  take 
his  place,  to  keep  him  short  of  money  till  he  would 
comply  with  their  wishes,  and  to  render  him  powerless 
by  calling  his  ministers  to  account  when  they  did  what 
the  Commons  considered  to  be  illegal.  Not  only  the 
authority  of  the  king  but  the  decision  of  the  Judges  was 
to  be  swept  aside.  And  all  this  was  to  be  done  in  order 
that  freedom  of  thought,  except  so  far  as  it  found  favor 
in  the  eyes  of  the  dominant  majority,  might  be  stamped 
out  in  England :  that  no  one  might  print  a  book  or 


1629.  Unparliamentary  Government.  75 


preach  a  sermon  without  the  leave  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. 

Charles  was  not  wrong  in  dissolving  such  a  Parlia- 
ment.   It  had  done  its  work  in  preparing  the  great 
Petition  ;  and  if  Charles  could  have  rallied 
England  round  him  by  a  wiser  policy  than    ?  2-  Charles' 

^  ^  .  position. 

he  was,  unfortunately,  capable  of  conceiving, 
he  might  well  have  waited  a  few  years  for  its  ratification 
by  another  Parliament.  Unluckily  he  was  incapable  of 
taking  such  a  step.  He  did  not  know  that  there  was 
truth  in  the  midst  of  his  opponents'  errors.  He  did  not 
know  that  his  own  policy  was  liable  to  the  gravest  ex- 
ception. Above  all,  he  did  not  know  that,  even  if  he 
were  possessed  of  all  wisdom,  he  could  not  govern  per- 
manently without  the  good-will  of  that  nation  which 
Parliament  represented.  He  did  not  acknowledge  to 
himself  that  he  meant  to  rule  permanently  without  Par- 
liament. But  he  ordered  that  no  man  should  petition 
him  to  summon  another,  and  as  years  rolled  on  his  mind 
grew  more  and  more  accustomed  to  think  of  Parliament 
as  a  mere  excrescence  on  the  constitution,  and  of  the 
public  opinion  on  which  it  rested  as  a  wild  beast  to  be 
kept  down.  He  fancied  that  he  was  copying  his  Tudor 
predecessors.  In  reality  he  was  most  false  to  the  great 
principles  of  Henry  and  Elizabeth.  The  lonely  silent 
man,  keeping  at  a  distance  all  who  were  not  of  the  imme- 
diate circle  of  his  privileged  attendants  could  never  play 
the  part  of  the  frank  and  hearty  sovereigns  who  had  court- 
ed popularity  as  the  very  life-blood  of  their  government. 

A  time  must  have  come  when  the  supremacy  of  public 
opinion  which  had  been  tacitly  recognized  by  Henry 

VII.   and    Elizabeth   would   exercise    an     ,  ^ 

g  3.  Condi- 
avowed  control  through  the  House  of  Com-  tionsofpar- 

iTions  as  the  representative  body  of  the  government 


76       The  Personal  Government  of  Charles  I.  i^^sq. 


nation.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  blunders  of  Charles' 
reign  had  done  much  to  hasten  the  change.  But 
it  is  certain  that  to  transfer  supremacy  to  the  House 
of  Commons  on  the  terms  on  which  Eliot  wished  to 
transfer  it,  would  have  been  to  establish  a  gross  tyranny. 
It  is  notorious  that  Henry  and  Elizabeth  were  always 
ready  to  hear  advice  from  all  sides.  Whatever  there 
was  elsewhere,  in  their  council  chamber  there  was  liberty 
of  speech.  If  the  House  of  Commons  was  to  step  into 
their  place,  there  must  be  liberty  of  speech  outside  as 
well  as  inside  the  walls  of  Parliament.  A  Parliament 
stereotyping  upon  the  country  a  particular  form  of  reli- 
gious or  political  belief  which  happened  to  be  popular  at 
the  time  would  degenerate  into  the  most  odious  of  des- 
potisms. The  mouths  of  the  counsellors  whose  work  it 
is  insensibly  to  change  public  opinion  would  be  closed. 
The  establishment  of  Parliamentary  supremacy  in  1688 
was  a  noble  work.  But  it  would  not  have  been  a  noble 
work  if  it  had  stood  alone.  It  came  accompanied  by  the 
abolition  of  the  censorship  of  the  press,  and  by  the 
Toleration  Act.  A  free  press  and  a  free  pulpit  were 
limitations  on  the  parliamentary  despotism  as  effectual 
as  the  tacitly  acknowledged  right  of  insurrection  had 
been  upon  the  kingly  despotism  of  the  middle  ages. 

Such  ideas  are  universally  accepted  in  the  present 
day.    In  the  seventeenth  century  they  were  but  strug- 
gling into  existence.  Charles  and  his  minis- 
e  4.  Charles  and  t^j-g  saw  the  necessity  of  resisting  the  eccle- 

his  ministers.  •'  ^ 

siastical  tyranny  of  the  House  of  Commons. 
But  they  fancied  they  could  resist  by  refurbishing  the 
weapons  of  old  authority,  and  by  establishing  a  system 
of  equal  despotism.  As  far  as  possible  they  would  act 
according  to  law.  But  if  the  law  failed  them  they  could 
always  fall  back  on  the  prerogative,  which  they  interpre- 


1629.  Unparlia7nentary  Government.  77 


ted  as  giving  power  to  the  king  to  provide  for  the  safety 
of  the  nation,  when  he  was  not  expressly  forbidden  by 
law  to  do  any  special  act  which  he  wished  to  do.  As  the 
Judges  were  appointed  and  dismissed  by  the  crown  :  as 
the  Courts  of  Star  Chamber  and  High  Commission  could 
fine  and  imprison  at  discretion,  and  as  Parliament  was 
not  there  to  complain,  Charles  was  practically  absolute 
in  all  matters  in  which  he  cared  to  be  absolute.  But 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  believed  his  to  be  a  legal 
government,  and  that  he  prided  himself  particularly  on 
his  respect  for  the  law. 

For  some  years,  three  statesmen,  Weston, 
Laud,  and  Wentworth  g-overned  Eng^land  in        ^5-  Three 

'  °  °  statesmen. 

Charles'  name. 

Of  the  three,  Weston  was  of  the  least  importance.  As 
Lord  Treasurer  his  first  thought,  like  the  first  thought 
of  his  predecessor,  Middlesex,  was  for  eco- 

^  g  6.  Weston, 

nomy.  Buckingham's  wasteful  expenditure  Lord  Trea- 
had  left  him  a  large  legacy  of  debt,  and  he 
did  all  that  he  could  to  clear  it  off.  The  subsidies  voted 
in  1628  did  much,  and  in  1630  he  discovered  that  all 
men  holding  lands  worth  40/.  a  year  ought  to  have  been 
knighted  at  the  coronation,  if  they  were  not  knights 
already.  Fines  imposed  on  hundreds  of  men  who  had 
neglected  this  duty  brought  money  into  the  exchequer. 
The  act  was  unquestionably  within  the  letter  of  the  law. 
and  it  received  the  express  sanction  of  the  Court  of 
Exchequer,  though  itw^as  not  likely  to  increase  the  popu- 
larity of  the  government.  By  this  and  similar  contri- 
vances Weston  paid  off  much  of  the  debt,  and  brought 
the  revenue  and  expenditure  nearly  on  a  level.  He 
knew  well  that  to  save  himself  from  fresh  debt  he  must 
keep  the  king  at  peace.  Peace  was  made  at  once  with 
France  in  1629;  but  peace  with  Spain  was  not  brought 


78       The  Personal  Government  of  Charles  I,  1629. 


about  till  the  end  of  1630.  The  king  was  greatly  dis- 
tressed at  abandoning  the  cause  of  his  sister,  and  was 
every  year  entering,  after  the  manner  of  his  father, 
into  fresh  negotiations  for  the  restitution  of  the  Palati- 
nate. Weston  humored  Charles,  joined  in  forwarding 
the  negotiations,  and  was  always  ready  with  some  good 
reason  why  they  should  not  end  in  war.  For  the  moral 
and  spiritual  interests  of  Protestantism  on  the  Continent 
he  cared  nothing.  He  was  suspected,  probably  with 
truth,  of  being  a  Roman  Catholic  at  heart.  His  policy 
was  exclusively  devoted  to  enriching  the  country.  If 
commerce  flourished  and  men  were  making  money,  they 
would  not  be  likely,  he  thought,  to  grumble  against  the 
king. 

If  Weston  was  the  king*s  oracle  so  far  as  the  material 
wants  of  the  nation  were  concerned,  Laud,  now  Bishop 
of  London,  was  his  spiritual  adviser.  He  had  grown  up 
,    ^    ,        to  regard  with  horror  the  dogmatism  of  Cal- 

\j.  Laud,  .    .  . 

Bishop  of  vinism,  and  he  believed  that  disputes  about 
religious  questions  were  likely  to  overthrow 
the  commonwealth.  He  like  his  contemporaries,  never 
rose  into  the  conception  of  liberty  of  thought  as  the  only 
possible  remedy  for  the  evil  which  he  dreaded.  When 
Eliot  cried  out  for  the  enforcement  of  unity  of  belief, 
Laud  cried  out  for  the  enforcement  of  uniformity  of  cere- 
monial. "  I  labored  nothing  more,"  he  afterwards  said,  in 
defence  of  his  proceedings,  than  that  the  external  public 
worship  of  God — too  much  slighted  in  most  parts  of  this 
kingdom — might  be  preserved,  and  that  with  as  much 
decency  and  uniformity  as  might  be ;  being  still  of 
opinion  that  unity  cannot  long  continue  in  the  Church, 
when  uniformity  is  shut  out  at  the  church  door."  In  all 
the  complex  varieties  of  Puritanism  the  heart  of  man  is 
addressed  through  the  intellect.     Laud  addressed  it 


1629.  Unparliamentary  Government. 


79 


through  the  eye.  External  order  and  disciphne,  the 
authority  of  existing  law  and  of  existing  governors,  were 
the  tests  to  which  he  appealed.  Genius,  he  had  none, 
no  power  of  sympathy  with  characters  opposed  to  his 
own,  no  attractive  force  whatever.  Men  were  to  obey 
for  their  own  good,  and  to  hold  their  tongues. 

If  Laud  was  greater  than  Weston,  Wentworth  was 
greater  than  Laud.  When  the  Petition  of  Right  was 
granted  he  passed  easily  and  naturally  into  ^  ^  Wentworth 
the  king's  service  as  President  of  the  Coun-  iPresident  of 
cil  of  the  North,  a  special  tribunal  exercis-  ^ 
ing  almost  unlimited  authority  beyond  the  Humber. 
As  long  as  Buckingham  lived,  and  for  a  year  after  his 
death,  he  had  no  place  in  the  general  government  of 
England.  Only  in  November,  1629,  did  he  enter  the 
privy  council.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  events  of  the 
session  of  that  year  must  have  exercised  a  decisive  influ- 
ence on  his  mind.  In  the  session  of  1628  he  had  taken 
the  lead  in  resistance  to  the  violent  measures  which  had 
been  called  forth  by  the  prosecution  of  a  war  which  he 
regarded  as  impolitic  and  unwise.  But  he  must  have 
regarded  with  the  utmost  detestation  the  claim  of  the 
Commons  to  force  the  king  to  establish  an  ecclesiastical 
inquisition  into  the  holding  of  opinions  which  he  himself 
shared.  If  Eliot  wished  to  found  authority  on  public 
opinion,  Wentworth  contemned  public  opinion  alto- 
gether. Authority  must  be  founded  on  intellect,  not 
on  opinion,  and  of  all  living  intellects  he  believed 
his  own  to  be  the  first.  Nor  was  it  simply  to  the 
maintenance  of  power  that  he  looked.  "  Justice  without 
respect  of  persons,"  might  have  been  the  motto  of  his 
life.  Nothing  called  forth  his  bitter  indignation  like  the 
claims  of  the  rich  to  special  consideration  or  favor.  The 
rule  of  the  House  of  Commons  meant  for  him — not 


8o       The  Personal  Gover?ime?tt  of  Charles  I.  1629. 


altogether  without  truth — the  rule  of  the  landowner  and 
the  lawyer  at  the  expense  of  the  poor.  His  entry  into 
the  council  was  marked  by  a  series  of  efforts  to  make 
life  more  tolerable  for  those  who  were  in  distress. 
Justices  of  the  peace  were  ordered  to  make  a  yearly  re- 
port  on  the  execution  of  the  poor  law,  to  say  whether 
those  who  had  no  means  of  subsistence  were  relieved, 
and  whether  idle  vagabonds  were  punished.  The 
measure  was  accompanied  by  many  others,  not  always 
very  wise,  but  always  well-intentioned,  as  far  as  can  now 
be  judged,  for  the  relief  of  commerce,  and  for  the  general 
improvement  of  the  condition  of  the  population.  Where 
Wentworth  failed  was  in  his  contempt  of  popularity  and 
in  his  contempt  for  law  as  a  safe-guard  of  justice. 
Everything  was  to  be  done  for  the  people,  nothing  by 
them.  They  must  learn  to  take  the  good  things  which 
the  government  chose  to  send  them,  as  they  took  the 
rain  from  heaven.  There  was  to  be  no  strengthening  of 
the  consciousness  of  right  in  the  popular  heart ;  no  drawing 
out  of  the  love  and  sympathy  of  the  governed.  The 
blessings  which  the  stern,  isolated  man  was  longing  to 
spread  around  him  came  back  to  him  in  curses. 

Section  IV. — Ecclesiastical  Parties, 

The  first  five  years  of  unparliamentary  government 
were  on  the  whole  years  of  peace  and  quiet.  There 
were  Star  Chamber  prosecutions  and  penal- 
§  i.°Star°'       ties  for  those  who  openly  resisted  the  authori- 
^entrnc'es.  ^he  king.    In  1630  Alexander  Leigh- 

ton,  having  written  a  virulent  libel  upon  the 
bishops,  was  flogged  and  mutilated  with  merciless 
severity.  In  1633  Henry  Sherfield  was  fined  for  taking 
the  law  into  his  own  hands,  and  breaking  a  church 
window  which  he  held  to  be  superstitious.  But  though  the 


1630.  Ecclesiastical  Parties. 


81 


government  was  undoubtedly  unpopular  in  many  quarters 
there  is  no  sign  of  any  general  bitterness  of  feeling 
against  it. 

There  was  no  distinct  breach  of  constitutional  forms. 
Years  were  passing  away  without  a  Parliament,  just  as 
years  had  passed  away  in  the  preceding 
reis^n.    But  no  one  had  said  that  Parlia-  General 

°  submission. 

ment  was  never  to  meet  again.  Nor  was 
the  bearing  of  the  opposition  in  the  last  session  such  as 
to  secure  universal  acquiescence.  Pym  had  openly  de- 
nounced Eliot's  course  as,  at  least,  ill-timed,  and  many 
of  the  foremost  men  of  former  sessions  ha  i  stood  aloof 
from  the  uproar  of  the  final  scene.  There  was  much, 
too,  in  the  course  of  foreign  affairs  to  soothe  men's  minds 
in  England.  The  peace  had  restored  commercial 
activity,  and  merchants  who  were  making  money  rapidly 
had  no  time  to  agitate  against  the  payment  of  tonnage 
and  poundage.  In  1630  the  flood  of  Roman  Catholic 
aggression  was  checked  in  Germany  by  the  landing  of 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  and  good  Protestants  in  England 
ceased  to  dread  lest  they  should  be  faced  by  a  triumph- 
ant papal  league,  mustering  its  forces  from  the  shores  of 
the  Baltic  to  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar. 

After  all,  too,  the  ecclesiastical  changes  introduced  by 
Laud  in  these  early  years  of  his  domination  were  not  so 
very  alarming.   His  power  extended  directly 
only  over  his  own  diocese  of  London,  and      ^  3-  Laud'? 

changes. 

though  he  was  able  to  do  much  elsewhere 
with  the  king's  aid,  his  suggestions  were  often  evaded  by 
reluctant  or  sluggish  bishops.  Even  when  he  was  most 
vigorous,  though  words  likely  to  cause  alarm  frequently 
escaped  his  lips,  he  confined  his  actual  efforts  to  compel- 
ling the  observance  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  and 
to  putting  an  end  to  that  evasion  of  the  rules  of  the 


82       The  Personal  Government  of  Charles  I.  1630. 

Church  which  had  frequently  been  practised  since 
Abbot's  archbishopric  had  begun.  On  the  whole  Puri- 
tans submitted  with  more  or  less  reluctance.  Those  who 
refused  to  do  so  were  deprived  of  their  appointments  in 
the  Church. 

Laud  did  not  stand  alone  in  his  reverence  for  the 
Prayer  Book.  The  respect  for  the  calm  sanctities  of  a 
hfe  sustained  and  nourished  by  the  spirit 
Herbert'^^^  which  breathes  in  it  found  its  chief  expres- 
sion in  George  Herbert.  Born  of  a  noble 
house,  he  had  aspired  to  lead  a  high  and  pure  religious 
life,  and  to  employ  his  talents  in  the  service  of  the  state. 
His  ambition  had  acted  as  a  disturbing  influence  on  the 
current  of  his  religious  aspirations.  His  religious  aspi- 
rations had  held  him  back  from  devoting  himself  wholly 
to  statesmanship.  At  last  he  recognized  his  true  voca- 
tion. As  parish  priest  at  Bemerton,  a  little  hamlet  near 
Salisbury,  almost  under  the  shadow  of  the  most  graceful 
of  English  cathedrals,  he  taught  men  by  his  life  to  rever- 
ence whatsoever  things  are  pure,  whatsoever  things  are 
lovely  and  of  good  report.  To  Herbert  the  outward  forms 
of  church  worship,  the  repeated  prayer,  the  pealing 
organ,  the  painted  window,  were  loved  and  reverenced 
as  teaching  the  struggling  soul  to  offer  up  its  own  wander- 
ing fantasy  and  to  restrain  itself  within  limits  appointed  by 
external  authority.  That  which  was  to  sink  into  his 
heart  must  first  pass  through  the  eye  or  the  ear.  Even 
the  pavement  of  a  church  could  be  made  to  read  a  les- 
ion to  him  who  stepped  upon  it. 

Mark  you  the  floor?  That  square  and  speckled  stone, 
Which  looks  so  firm  and  strong, 
Is  Patience : 

And  th' other  black  and  grave,  wherewith  each  one 
Is  checkered  all  alone, 
Humihty. 


1630. 


Ecclesiastical  Parties. 


83 


The  gentle  rising,  which  on  either  hand 
Leads  to  the  Quire  above, 
Is  Confidence : 
But  the  sweet  cement,  which  in  one  sure  band 
Ties  the  whole  frame,  is  Love 
And  Charity. 

Among  the  simple  peasants  of  the  WiUshire  valley 
such  teaching  was  not  without  its  reward.  The  plough- 
man stopped  in  his  daily  toil  and  murmured  a  few  words 
of  prayer  as  he  heard  Herbert's  bell  sending  forth  its 
summons  to  common  worship.  From  Herbert,  and  from 
such  as  Herbert,  Laud  had  only  support  to  look  for. 
To  them  it  was  a  pleasure  to  be  under  authority,  and  to 
be  bidden  to  submit  to  rules  out  of  which  their  submis- 
sive minds  might  draw  some  hidden  sweetness. 

It  was  the  fault  of  the  House  of  Commons  that  its 
system  would  have  found  no  room  in  the  Church  for 
Herbert.  But  if  the  Church  was  to  remain 
unrent,  room  must  be  found  in  it  for  those  libbS^^^^'^^ 
who  were  very  unlike  Herbert..  Of  all  the 
Puritan  preachers  of  the  day  no  man  stood  higher  than 
Richard  Sibbes.  Ever  in  the  pulpit,  amongst  the  lawyers 
of  Gray's  Inn,  or  at  the  University  church  at  Cambridge, 
he  did  not  shrink,  as  Herbert  shrank,  from  contact  with 
the  world.  Wherever  men  were  thickest,  wherever  the 
spirit  of  evil  was  the  strongest,  his  voice  was  raised.  It 
was  the  Puritan  gospel  which  he  preached.  In  his  ap- 
peals Christ  was  speaking,  not  through  outward  cere- 
monies or  holy  rites,  but  straight  to  the  heart  and  con- 
science of  the  hearer,  bidding  him  sink  at  once  into  re- 
pentance, in  order  that  he  might  rise  up  into  sanctifica- 
tion.  Just  as  for  Herbert  the  outward  form  was  but  the 
incitement  to  holiness  of  life,  so  with  Sibbes  the  form  of 
doctrine,  the  argument  about  grace  and  predestination 


84       The  Personal  Government  of  Charles  I.  1633. 


was  but  the  mental  framework  in  which  the  Hving  spirit 
moved  and  worked.  The  element  in  the  Puritan  creed 
which  stirred  men's  spirits  most  deeply  was  the  doctrine 
of  conversion,  the  firm  conviction  of  an  immediate  di- 
vine action  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  heart,  and  of  His 
constant  abiding  presence  in  the  midst  of  all  trials  and 
temptations.  Like  the  other  Puritans,  Sibbes  is  distin- 
guished by  his  triumphant  confidence  in  the  issue  of  his 
activity.  Herbert's  melody,  in  its  happiest  tones,  has 
always  something  sad  and  plaintive  about  it.  Even 
Laud  and  Wentworth  acknowledged  to  themselves  that 
the  chances  were  against  them.  Eliot  in  his  prison, 
Sibbes  in  his  pulpit,  are  jubilant  with  exultation.  Church 
arrangements,  state  institutions  have  been  shattered 
before  and  will  be  shattered  again.  But  the  sad  con- 
sciousness of  sin,  the  joyful  sense  of  righteousnes  and 
purity,  are  unassailable  by  outward  force.  To  place 
such  men  as  Sibbes  under  such  men  as  Laud  is  to  reverse 
the  natural  order  of  things.  The  time  will  come  when 
the  strong  man  will  burst  his  chains,  and  will  make  him- 
self master  of  the  house. 

As  yet  there  seemed  no  likelihood  of  this.  Sibbes 
and    his    fellow-workers   were  compelled  sometimes, 
rather  unwillingly,  to  use  the  whole  of  the 

A.D.  1633. 

1 6.  Puritan      Prayer  Book.     What  was   worse  still,  a 

conformists.        .      i  i       ^  n  ^i.  • 

jealous  eye  was  kept  on  all  their  movements. 
In  1627  Sibbes  and  four  others  were  reprimanded  for 
venturing  to  collect  money  for  exiles  from  the  Palatinate 
at  a  time  when  the  king  found  such  difficulty  in  raising 
the  forced  loan.  In  1633  a  heavier  blow  was  dealt 
against  him.  With  eleven  others  like-minded  with  him- 
self he  had  bought  up  Church  property,  which  had  been 
impropriated  by  laymen  in  earlier  times,  and  used  it  to 
supply  the  needs  of  Puritan  ministers  and  school-masters. 


New  England, 


85 


At  Laud's  instance  the  whole  scheme  was  referred  to  the 
Judges,  who  declared  it  to  be  illegal.  A  stop  was  put  to 
this  attempt  to  supply  Puritan  preachers.  Yet  Sibbes, 
though  sorely  grieved,  never  wavered  for  an  instant  in 
his  devotion  to  the  Church  of  which  he  was  a  minister. 
In  a  letter  which  he  addressed  to  a  friend  who  was  think- 
ing of  separating  himself  from  it,  he  protested  against 
the  very  thought.  The  Church  of  England,  he  said, 
was  a  true  Church.  Even  those  who  thought  the  cere- 
monies to  be  evil  were  not  justified  in  making  a  rent  in 
the  Church  for  that  reason.  The  remedy  would  be  worse 
than  the  disease.  Let  his  friend  leave  his  extravagant 
courses,  and  return  "to  the  sacred  communion  of  this 
truly  evangelical  Church  of  England." 

Such  is  the  language  of  a  leading  Puritan  teacher  in 
1633.    Its  meaning  is  evident.    There  is  a 
sense  of  dissatisfaction,  but  no  actual  es-  estrang^-^^ 
trangement.     The  gulf  between  Laud  and  ^mplete 
the  Puritans  is  not  yet  impassable. 

Section  V. — New  England, 

So  little  chance  did  there  seem  to  be  of  changing  the 
existing  system,  that  some  to  whom  it  was  altogether 
intolerable  sought  a  refuge  elsewhere.    Ever  since  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth  there  had  been  those  who 
regarded  the  English  Church  not  as  some-     ^  ^- 

f  °  paratists. 

thing  to  be  altered  and  modified,  but  as 
something  to  be  abandoned  by  all  true  Christians.  Of 
the  various  names  by  which  these  men  have  been  known, 
that  of  Separatists  best  describes  their  position.  They 
believed  that  each  congregation  of  faithful  men  should 
separate  itself  from  nominal  Christians,  and  should  form 
a  community  by  itself,  choosing  its  own  ministers  for 
convenience'  sake,  but  not  acknowledging  any  strict  line 


86       The  Personal  Government  of  Charles  I.  1620. 


of  distinction  between  the  clergy  and  laity.  Few  in 
numbers,  and  unpopular,  from  the  contempt  in  which 
they  held  ordinary  Christians,  they  were  looked  down 
upon  by  both  parties  in  the  Church. 

In  1608  a  congregation  of  these  men  had  emigrated  to 
Holland,  finally  settling  at  Leyden.    But  they  were  ac- 
^,  customed  to  country  life,  and  town  occupa- 

g  2.  T.  he  con-  , 

gregation  of  tious  pressed  hardly  on  them.  The  busy 
Leyden.  world,  with  its  loosc  and  often  sinful  ways, 

offered  temptations  from  which  they  would  gladly  escape, 
and  many  of  them  resolved  to  seek  new  homes  in 
America,  where  they  might  be  free  to  follow  their  ideal 
of  a  gospel  life. 

On  the  coast  of  that  which  is  now  known  as  the  United 
States,  English  settlers  were  already  to  be  found.  The 
colony  of  Virginia  had  struggled  through  terrible  diffi- 
^,  culties,  and  was  now  established  as  a  to- 

\  3.  The  ' 

colony  of         bacco-planting,  well-to-do  community.  But 
irginia.  Virginians  did  not  trouble  themselves 

about  the  ideal  of  a  gospel  life,  and  the  new  settlers 
had  to  seek  in  colder  and  more  northern  regions  for  a 
home. 

In  1620  the  emigrants,  a  hundred  in  all,  "lifting  up 
their  eyes  to  heaven,  their  dearest  country,"  sailed  across 

the  Atlantic,  in  the  Mayflower,"  in  search 
Thevoyaglof  3<  spot  in  wliich  to  pass  the  remainder  of 
flower^"^^'       their  earthly  pilgrimage.     Coming  to  an 

anchor  in  the  broad  bay  which  lies  inside 
Cape  Cod,  they  explored  the  coast  before  them.  Novem- 
ber had  come  upon  them  with  its  cold  snow-laden  blasts. 
But  they  found  a  home  at  last — Plymouth,  as  they  called 
it,  after  the  last  port  which  they  had  seen  in  England. 
Their  troubles  were  not  yet  at  an  end.  Disease,  en- 
gendered by  hardship,  carried  off  half  their  numbers, 


1630. 


New  EngJand, 


^7 


and  some  fifty  men,  women,  and  children  remained 
alone  on  that  rugged  and  iron-bound  coast,  to  form  a 
nucleus  for  the  New  England  of  the  future. 

For  ten  years  little  addition  was  made  to  their  num- 
ber.   Some  few  came  out  to  join  them.    Others  occupied 
the  most  promising  positions  around,  to  fish, 
to  trade  with  the  Indians,  sometimes  to     g  5"^"  Massa- 
plunder  and  to  cheat  them.    The  reopening  ^et^til"^ 
of  religious  strife  in  England  caused  a  fresh 
flow  of  emigration.    In  1630  about  a  thousand  Puritan 
nien  found  their  way  across  the  -Atlantic,  with  John 
Winthrop  at  their  head,  and  the  Massachusetts  settle- 
ments were  firmly  established. 

In  all  these  settlements  the  principles  of  the  Separa- 
tists were  unquestioned.  Outward  forms 
and  ceremonies  were  altogether  thrust  out  |iou?charac- 
from  any  place  in  worship.  But  it  was  not  ^donies^ 
in  search  of  liberty  that  these  men  had 
crossed  the  ocean.  The  Bible  was  to  them  a  code  of 
law,  and  they  had  made  up  their  minds  strongly  as  to 
the  interpretation  to  be  placed  on  doubtful  passages. 
He  who  would  not  accept  their  interpretation  was  to  be 
banished  from  the  colony.  He  who  accepted  it,  but  had 
sinned  against  the  precepts  which  he  acknowledged,  was 
punished.  One  day  Winthrop,  who  had  been  elected 
governor,  came  to  a  place  named  Hue's  Cross.  Ele 
ordered  it  at  once  to  be  named  Hue's  Folly,  lest  men 
should  think  that  Jesuits  had  been  there.  We  can  fancy 
how  he  would  have  dealt  with  a  living  Jesuit.  Within 
their  own  circle  the  colonists  were  upright,  forbearing, 
kindly  men,  fearing  God  and  tenderly  loving  one 
another.  In  1633  no  sane  man  would  have  predicted 
that  men  like  these  would  soon  be  the  masters  of  Eng- 
land.   In  the  end  of  that  very  year  a  noted  Separatist, 


88 


The  Reign  of  Thorough, 


who  had  taken  refuge  in  Holland,  wrote  a  book  with  the 
suggestive  title,  "A  Fresh  Suit  against  Human  Cere- 
monies." In  the  preface  he  argued  that  no  danger 
could  possibly  come  from  the  toleration  of  Separatists, 
on  the  ground  that  the  great  majority  of  the  English 
people  were  well  inclined  towards  the  Prayer  Book. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  REIGN  OF  THOROUGH. 

Section  I. — General  Enforcement  of  Conformity. 
In  August  1633  Archbishop  Abbot  died,  and  Laud  was 
immediately  appointed  as  his  successor.    He  had  so 
^  ^  long  influenced  the  king  in  Church  matters, 

g  I.  Laud  that  the  change  in  title  seemed  likely  to 
archbishop.  \^Y'mg  him  but  little  increase  of  authority. 
Practically,  however,  the  change  was  great.  Out  of  his 
own  diocese,  he  had  before  only  noticed  accidentally 
things  which  displeased  him.  He  now  held  himself 
bound  by  duty  to  notice  everything.  Whatever  powers 
an  archbishop  might  claim  by  ancient,  even  if  forgotten, 
usage,  he  would  put  in  force  till  the  order  of  the  Prayer 
Book  was  accepted  by  all.  If  there  was  anything  doubt- 
ful in  his  claims,  Charles  was  ready  to  support  him  with 
all  the  weight  of  the  royal  authority. 

Laud  had  scarcely  taken  possession  of  the  see  when 
he  gave  deep  offence  to  the  Puritans.    In  Somersetshire, 
as  in  many  other  parts  of  the  kingdom,  it 

L^-  The  ^  ^  Y  1  •  r 

Declaration  was  the  custom  to  keep  the  anniversary  of 
of  Sports.  dedication  of  a  parish  church  with  a 

feast.    These  feasts  had  often  degenerated  into  drunken 


r 


1633-     General  Enforcement  of  Conformity. 


revelry.  The  justices  of  the  peace,  supported  by  Chief 
Justice  Richardson,  attempted  to  put  a  stop  to  the  cus- 
tom. The  attempt  was  resisted  by  Laud  as  an  interfer- 
ence with  the  right  of  the  bishop  to  deal  with  ecclesiasti- 
cal matters.  Richardson  was  summoned  before  the 
council,  and  sharply  reprimanded  by  the  archbishop. 
"I  have  almost,"  he  said,  as  he  came  out,  ''been 
choked  with  a  pair  of  lawn  sleeves."  Laud  and  the  king 
thought,  perhaps  wisely,  that  if  the  justices  of  the  peace 
did  their  duty,  the  drunkenness  might  be  repressed,  and 
the  social  gatherings  continued.  They  followed  up  their 
decision  with  a  more  questionable  step.  They  not  only 
reissued  the  Declaration  of  Sports  which  had  been  issued 
in  the  late  reign,  to  authorize  the  use  of  pastimes  on 
Sunday  afternoons,  but  they  ordered  all  the  clergy  to 
read  it  publicly  in  their  churches.  To  the  Puritan  the 
Declaration  seemed  to  be  an  incitation  to  sin,  a  breach 
of  the  fourth  commandment.  Laud  cared  nothing  for 
such  scruples.    He  demanded  obedience. 

Scarcely  less  offensive  was  a  decision  taken  on  the 
position  of  the  communion  table.    By  the  canons,  the 
table  was  to  remain  at  the  east  end  of  the 
chancel,  excepting  when  it  was  needed  for  Thecom- 

^      °  munion  table. 

the  communion,  at  which  time  it  was  to  be 
placed  in  that  part  of  the  church  or  chancel  from  which 
the  minister  could  be  most  conveniently  heard.  In 
practice  it  stood  permanently  at  the  east  end  in  cathe- 
drals and  in  some  parish  churches,  whilst  in  most  parish 
churches  it  stood  permanently  in  the  midst  of  the  chancel, 
or  even  in  the  nave.  Laud's  indignation  was  roused 
when  he  heard  of  the  unseemly  uses  to  which  it  was 
often  put.  Men  laid  their  hats  on  it  in  time  of  service, 
or  used  it  as  a  writing-table,  upon  which  to  transact  the 
business  of  the  parish.    In  a  case  brought  before  the 

H 


po  The  Reigji  of  Thorough,  1633. 

council,  the  king  explained  away  the  canons  by  the  in- 
terpretation that  the  bishop,  or  other  ordinary  authority, 
could  alone  determine  where  the  table  could  most  con- 
veniently be  placed.  The  consequences  of  this  decision 
were  not  immediately  perceptible.  But  by  degrees,  at 
Laud's  instigation,  the  bishops  pressed  on  the  removal 
of  the  table  to  the  east  end,  and  the  surrounding  of  it 
with  a  railing.  That  which  meets  the  eye  impresses  the 
mind  more  than  that  which  meets  the  ear :  and  hundreds 
of  persons  who  cared  little  about  Arminianism,  or  about 
the  news  of  a  fresh  ceremony  introduced  into  some 
distant  cathedral,  were  roused  to  indignation  when  their 
own  parish  church  put  on  a  new  appearance,  and  the 
table  was,  as  it  seemed  to  them,  transmuted  into  an 
altar. 

Laud,  too,  was  ungentle  in  all  his  doings.    Rarely  did 
he  fail  to  demand  the  heaviest  penalty  for  offences.  One 
of  the  sturdijst  opponents  of  his  system  was 
\\.  Prynne's    William  Pryunc,  a  learned  barrister,  who, 
sentence.  defiance  of  the  archbishop,  had  poured 

forth  book  after  book  from  his  burning  brain.  His  was 
a  most  unspiritual  religion.  As  unsympathizing  as  Laud 
with  the  full  life  of  human  nature,  he  tried  all  things  by 
the  dry  logic  which  was  to  him  all-sufficient.  Sometimes 
he  would  find  a  terrible  sin  in  the  wearing  of  long  curls 
— love-locks  as  they  were  called — by  men  ;  sometimes  in 
drinking  healths  ;  sometimes  in  wrong  opinions  on  the 
subject  of  predestination.  He  now  turned  his  attention 
to  theatres.  There  was  much  room  for  the  scourge  of 
the  satirist.  Vile  indecency  tainted  the  highest  drama- 
tic efforts  of  the  time,  and  even  the  noblest  characters 
could  not  be  introduced  upon  the  stage  unless  they  were 
smothered  in  a  foul  morass  of  seething  corruption. 
Prynne's  heavy  work,  Histriomastix ,   or  Scourge  of 


1634. 


General  Enforcement  of  Conformity. 


9^ 


Stage-players,  was  likely  to  convince  no  one  who  was  not 
convinced  already.  Bringing  every  charge  under  the  sun 
against  the  players,  he  held  them  responsible  for  every 
sin  which  the  pages  of  history  revealed  to  have  been 
committed  by  their  predecessors  in  Greece  or  Rome. 
From  the  players  he  turned  to  the  government  which 
had  permitted  the  abuse,  and  he  inserted  words  which 
were  held  to  reflect  on  the  queen,  who  had  announced 
her  intention  of  taking  part  in  a  theatrical  representation 
at  court  at  the  time  when  the  book  was  published,  and 
had  already  shared  in  the  rehearsals.  After  the  publi- 
cation of  the  book  Prynne  was  sentenced  in  the  Star 
Chamber  to  stand  in  the  pillory,  to  lose  his  ears,  and  to 
imprisonment  at  the  king's  pleasure.  He  was  also  to  be 
dismissed  from  the  bar,  and  to  be  deprived  of  his  univer- 
sity degrees. 

Prynne's  sentence,  outrageous  as  it  was,  was  not  re- 
ceived with  that  general  indignation  which  it  would  have 
called  forth  two  or  three  years  later.    The  ^  , 

g  5.  Ihe  Inns 

Inns  of  Court  had  been  roused  by  his  whole-  of  Court 
sale  condemnation  of  the  drama  to  spend 
thousands  of  pounds  on  a  gorgeous  masque,  which  they 
presented  to  the  king,  and  some  who  afterwards  took  the 
foremost  part  in  resistance  to  the  court  joined  now  in 
approval  of  its  measures. 

But  it  is  not  the  lawyers'  masque  which  will  be  the 
memorial  to  all  time  of  Prynne's  fault  and  of  his  suffer- 
ings.   John  Milton,  the  son  of  a  London 

■  A  w      •  A  .         ^  Milton's 

scrivener,  had  grown  up,  his  mmd  stamped  Penseroso 

with  thoughtful   seriousness,  but  with  no  Comus. 
feelings  of  opposition  to  the  rites  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land.   He  could  join  in  the  praise  of  a  prelate  like  An- 
drewes,  the  bishop  whom  Laud  revered  as  a  master.  He 
could  be  carried  away  by  the   charms  of  musical 


92 


The  Reign  of  Thorough, 


1634. 


harmonies  and  glowing  color  to  write  ve53es  like 
these : — • 

But  let  my  due  feet  never  fail 

To  walk  the  studious  cloister's  pale, 

And  love  the  high  embowed  roof, 

With  antique  pillars  massy -proof, 

And  storied  windows  richly  dight, 

Casting  a  dim  religious  light, 

There  let  the  pealing  organ  blow, 

To  the  full-voiced  quire  below. 

In  service  high  and  anthems  clear. 

As  may  with  sweetness,  through  mine  ear, 

Dissolve  me  into  ecstasies 

And  bring  all  Heaven  before  mine  eyes. 

But  he  could  not  bow  his  high  and  self-sustained  mind 
to  look  upon  these  harmonies  as  more  than  mere  adjuncts 
to  the  food  of  his  spiritual  nature.  He  could  not  regard 
anything  that  was  outward  and  sensible  as  giving  the 
law  w^ithin  which  he  was  to  restrain  his  worship.  With 
this  thought  before  him  he  wrote  the  Comus.  He  would 
show  that  it  was  possible  to  be  the  author  of  a  dramatic 
poem  of  which  the  action  should  revolve  round  the  en- 
nobling thought  of  purity.  But  though  acted  in  the 
presence  of  one  of  the  most  royalist  of  the  royalist  peers, 
it  was  none  the  less  a  protest  against  Laud's  admiration 
of  mere  external  decency.  The  inward,  the  poet  tells 
us,  gives  the  law  to  the  outward,  not  the  outward  to  the 
inward. 

So  dear  to  Heaven  is  saintly  chastity 
That,  when  a  soul  is  found  sincerely  so, 
A  thousand  liveried  angels  lackey  her. 
Driving  far  off  each  thing  of  sin  and  guilt. 
And  in  clear  dream  and  solemn  vision 
Tell  her  of  things  that  no  gross  ear  can  hear, 


1634-      General  Enforcement  of  Conformity,  93 


Till  oft  converse  with  heavenly  habitants 
Begin  to  cast  a  beam  on  the  outward  shape. 
The  unpolluted  temple  of  the  mind, 
And  turn  it  by  degrees  to  the  soul's  essence, 
Till  all  be  made  immortal. 

Meanwhile  Laud  was  pursuing  his  course.  Claiming 
the  right  as  archbishop  to  inquire  into  the  condition  of 
every  diocese  of  his  province,  he  sent  forth  „ 

^  ,       -  ?  7.  The  me. 

his  officials  far  and  wide.  Every  clergyman  tropoiiticai  vi- 
who  failed  in  conforming  to  the  Prayer 
Book,  who  protested  by  word  or  deed  against  the  removal 
of  the  communion  table,  who  objected  to  bow  his  head 
when  the  sacred  name  of  Jesus  was  uttered,  was  called 
in  question,  suspended,  deprived,  perhaps  fined  or  im- 
prisoned. Unity  of  creed  had  been  the  idol  of  the 
Puritan.  Unity  of  outward  worship  was  the  idol  of  Laud. 
As  he  told  Wentworth,  he  was  all  for  "thorough,"  the 
system  of  complete  discipline  on  which  his  heart  was  set. 
The  clergy  were  to  be  drilled  as  a  sergeant  drills  his 
soldiers.  Human  nature  rebelled  against  the  yoke. 
Moderate  men  began  to  suspect  that  all  this  was  but  part 
of  a  design  to  bring  England  again  under  the  papal 
domination.  It  was  known  that  an  emissary  from  Rome 
attached  to  the  queen's  court  was  frequently  admitted  to 
Charles'  presence,  and  the  effect  of  his  pleadings  was 
naturally  exaggerated.  There  were  some  amongst 
Laud's  followers  w^ho  approached  more  nearly  than  he 
did  to  the  Roman  doctrine,  and  a  few  desertions  from 
Protestantism  startled  England  into  a  panic  for  which 
Laud's  harsh  and  ill-advised  proceedings  were  in  the 
main  responsible. 


94 


21ie  Reign  of  llwrough. 


1634. 


Section  II. — Ship-money, 
Laud  had  alienated  the  thought  of  England,  The 
king  was  busily  alienating  those  who  cared  for  its  laws. 

His  revenue  almost  equalled  his  expendi- 

A..D.  1634.  ^  ^ 

gi.  Forest  ture.  But  there  were  debts  still  to  be  paid, 
courts.  every  now  and  then  there  were  extra- 

ordinary expenses  to  be  met.  Extraordinary  means 
were  used  to  gain  money.  Whole  districts  of  land  were 
claimed  as  part  of  the  royal  forests,  on  the  ground  of  old 
and  long-forgotten  records.  Fines  were  imposed  upon 
noblemen  and  gentlemen  who  were  thoroughly  loyal  to 
the  crown,  as  the  price  at  which  they  were  allowed  to 
retain  estates  which  had  been  in  the  hands  of  their  an- 
cestors for  generations. 

The  hardship  of  enforcing  the  forest  laws,  however, 
was  far  less  generally  felt  than  the  hardship  of  enforcing 
ship-money.    Weston,  recently  created  Earl 
g2.  Charles      Qf  Portland,  in  his  adoration  of  material 

wants  a  fleet. 

prosperity,  was  always  hankering  after  an 
alliance  with  Spain  for  the  purpose  of  overthrowing  the 
Dutch  commercial  supremacy.  The  commerce  of  the 
Dutch  was  far  richer  than  that  of  the  English,  and  their 
fisheries  in  the  sea  which  divides  England  and  Holland, 
brought  in  an  enormous  revenue.  The  navy  of  France, 
too,  was  growing  under  Richelieu's  fostering  care,  and 
Charles,  jealous  of  the  rivalry  of  France,  claimed  the 
right  of  dominion  over  the  Channel,  as  well  as  over  the 
North  Sea.  A  bundle  of  intercepted  letters  informed 
Charles  that  a  scheme  was  under  consideration  by  the 
Governments  of  France  and  Holland  for  an  attack  upon 
Dunkirk  to  the  profit  of  France.  He  had  no  mind  to 
see  the  whole  of  the  southern  shore  of  the  Straits  of 
Dover  in  the  hands  of  Lewis,  and  he  felt  much  as  all 


Ship-money, 


95 


Englishmen  would  have  felt  a  few  years  ago,  if  they  had 
come  upon  the  traces  of  a  plot  for  handing  over  Antwerp 
to  Napoleon  III.  The  Spanish  diplomatists  hastened 
to  take  advantage  of  his  dissatisfaction,  and  an  agree- 
ment was  negotiated  by  which  Spain  engaged  to  meet 
part  of  the  expenses  of  vindicating  Charles'  claim,  on 
the  understanding  that  it  was  eventually  to  lead  to  war 
with  the  Dutch,  and  perhaps  with  the  French  as  well. 

How  was  money  to  be  found  for  the  fleet?  In  1626, 
and  in  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  the     ^  ^ 

,  ,  .  I  3-  The  first 

maritime  counties  had  been  called  upon  to  ship-money 
furnish  ships  for  the  defence  of  the  realm. 
That,  however,  had  been  in  time  of  war,  whilst  England 
was  now  in  the  enjoyment  of  profound  peace.  Yet  Noy, 
the  attorney-general,  declared  that  even  as  matters 
stood,  such  a  course  was  in  accordance  with  more 
ancient  precedents.  In  1634  writs  were  issued,  com- 
manding that  the  ships  should  be  found  by  the  coast 
towns  and  counties.  A  few  weeks  later  the  counties  were 
informed  that  they  might,  if  they  chose,  provide  money 
instead  of  ships,  which  would  in  that  case  be  furnished 
out  of  the  royal  navy.  In  the  summer  of  1635  the  fleet 
thus  obtained  put  out  to  sea.  But  there  was  no  enemy 
to  fight.  The  Spanish  money  had  not  come.  The  King 
of  Spain,  impoverished  in  the  midst  of  wealth,  could  not 
find  the  sum  which  he  had  offered  to  provide,  and  com- 
missioned his  ambassador  to  make  what  excuse  he  could. 
Charles  had  no  mind  to  stand  alone  in  a  war  against  the 
French  and  the  Dutch,  and  the  fleet  returned  in  the 
autumn  without  having  fired  a  shot. 

The  sense  of  power  in  possessing  a  fleet  once  more 
was    too   much   for    Charles'  iudccment. 

A.D.  1635 

Portland  was  now  dead,  and  Noy  was  dead.     §  4.  The 
Rash  counsels   prevailed.    A  second  writ 


96 


The  Reign  of  Thorough, 


was  issued,  in  which  precedent  was  thrown  to  the  winds. 
This  time  orders  were  sent,  not  to  the  maritime  counties 
alone,  but  to  every  shire  in  England.  "As  all,"  the 
privy  council  declared,  "are  concerned  in  the  mutual 
defence  of  one  another,  so  all  might  put  to  their  helping 
hands."  Such  an  argument  was  undoubtedly  not  with- 
out its  weight.  No  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  would 
think  now-a-days  of  asking  Hampshire  and  Yorkshire  to 
provide  for  the  expenses  of  the  navy,  whilst  Worcester- 
shire and  Derbyshire  went  free.  But  how  was  the  plea 
likely  to  be  received  by  men  who  believed  that  the  navy 
was  not  needed  for  any  national  object  at  all  ?  Behind 
these  reasonable  doubts  there  was  an  argument  more 
irresistible  still.  The  king  claimed  to  decide  alone 
when  he  might  act,  unfettered  by  ordinary  restraints  of 
law,  for  the  good  of  the  nation.  Such  a  claim  might 
readily  be  allowed  if  it  was  confined  to  some  special 
emergency  when  there  was  no  time  to  summon  Parlia- 
ment. But  this  last  resource,  known  to  the  constitution 
as  a  desperate  remedy  in  the  extremest  danger,  was  now 
becoming  the  ordinary  rule.  If  the  king  was  to  judge 
when  he  might  take  money  for  ships,  he  would  soon 
want  to  judge  when  he  might  take  money  for  an  army. 
Whatever  precedents  might  say,  it  was  impossible  that 
a  precedent  could  be  admitted  which  would  make  Parlia- 
ment for  ever  unnecessary,  and  which  w^ould  reduce  the 
right  of  parliamentary  taxation,  the  object  of  so  many 
struggles,  to  a  dead  letter. 

Once  more,  in  1636,  a  fleet  was  set  out.    But  resist- 
ance had  been  raised  on  every  side.    In  February  1637 
Charles  resolved  to  consult  his  Judges.  He 

A.  D.  1637.  .  -  J 

^  5.  The  Judges  prided  himself  particularly  on  acting  accord- 
^  ■        ing  to  law,  and  in  referring  his  rights  to  the 
opinion  of  the  Judges.    Already  in  the  course  of  his 


1637. 


Ship-7noney . 


91 


reign  he  had  dismissed  two  Chief  Justices,  and  had  sus- 
pended a  Chief  Baron,  for  venturing  to  disagree  with  him. 
In  this,  as  in  so  many  other  things,  it  was  enough  for  him 
if  he  kept  within  the  letter  of  the  law,  even  whilst  he  was 
wholly  disregarding  its  spirit.  He  now  asked  the  Judges 
whether  he  might  not  raise  ship-money  when  it  was 
needed  for  the  defence  of  the  kingdom,  and  whether,  in 
that  case,  the  king  was  not  the  sole  judge,  both  of  the 
danger,  and  when  and  how  it  was  to  be  prevented  and 
avoided  ?  Ten  of  the  Judges  answered  in  the  affirmative 
at  once,  and  the  other  two  signed  their  reply  on  the 
ground  that  they  were  bound  by  the  decision  of  the  ma- 
jority. Much  to  the  surprise  of  the  Judges,  that  which 
they  believed  to  have  been  delivered  as  a  private  opinion, 
was  published  by  the  king  in  every  county  in  England. 

Charles  doubtless  thought  the  opposition  would  come 
to  an  end.  John  Hampden,  a  Buckinghamshire  squire, 
who  had  taken  a  busy,  though  a  silent  part 
in  the  early  Parliaments  of  the  reign,  thought  ^en'?resist- 
otherwise.  He  was  assessed  only  at  twenty 
shillings.  But  in  that  twenty  shillings  was  the  whole 
question,  whether  the  king  or  the  House  of  Commons 
should  be  supreme  in  England.  If  the  king  might  take 
what  money  he  pleased,  he  might  consequently  do  as  he 
pleased.  If  the  House  of  Commons  could  refuse  to 
grant  money  needed  for  the  necessities  of  government, 
they  could  mould  the  government  after  their  pleasure. 
Only  one  view  of  the  case  was  possible  for  Hampden. 
The  king  had  alienated  not  merely  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, but  the  nation.  Was  the  king  to  govern  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  nation  ?  Hampden  refused  to  support  so 
mischievous  a  doctrine,  and  flatly  refused  to  pay. 

Hampden's  case  was  argued  in  the  Exchetj^uer  Cham- 
ber.   Of  the  twelve  Judges  two  only  pronounced  deci- 


98 


The  Reign  of  Thorough. 


1637, 


declly  in  his  favor.  Three  supported  him  on 
^7?ju3|-  technical  grounds  alone.  Seven  declared 
ment  against         favor  of  the  king.    As  far  as  the  Judges 

were  concerned,  there  never  need  be  an 
English  Parliament  again.  Ship-money  continued  to 
be  levied,  but  the  opposition  grew  louder  every  day. 
The  decision  of  the  Judges  was  openly  ascribed  to  timi- 
dity or  obsequiousness.  The  arguments  of  Hampden's 
counsel  were  welcomed  as  the  true  reading  of  the  law 
from  one  end  of  England  to  the  other. 

Section  \\\,~  Prynne^  Bastwick,  and  Burton. 

Three  years  had  wrought  a  great  change  in  England. 
In  1634  Prynne's  ears  had  been  lopped  off  without 
A.  D.  1637.  causing  any  extraordinary  excitement,  and 
of  fedh?"fa  Inns  of  Court  had  signalized  their  detes- 

Engiand.  tation  of  his  principles  by  spontaneously 
offering  a  masque  to  the  king.  In  1637  Prynne  received 
a  fresh  sentence,  and  this  time  he  had  no  reason  to  com- 
plain of  the  want  of  popular  sympathy. 

He  did  not  now  stand  alone.  A  violent  and  scurril- 
ous attack  upon  the  existing  church  government  from 
his  pen  might  be  compared  with  two  other 
P?yrme^^^"*^^^  equally  violent  and  scurrilous  attacks  from 
anTBurtin  pcns  of  a  physician  named  Bastwick, 

and  a  clergyman  named  Burton.  The  reply 
of  the  Star  Chamber  was  to  send  them  to  the  pillory,  to 
sentence  them  to  the  loss  of  their  ears,  to  condemn  them 
to  a  fine  of  5,000/.  apiece,  and  to  imprisonment  for  life. 

Rash  and  intemperate  words  were  to  be  met  by  brutal 
deeds.    But  the  spirit  of  opposition  was  already  roused. 

As  the  three  passed  from  the  prison  to  the 
execudon!  pillory  in  Palace  Yard,  the  people  strewed 
herbs  and  flowers  in  their  path.    "  They  all 


1 637-         Frynne,  Bastitnck,  and  Burton. 


99 


three,"  we  are  told  by  a  contemporary,  "  talked  to  the 
people.  Bastwick  said  they  had  collar-days  in  the  king's 
court" — days,  that  is  to  say,  when  the  knights  of  the 
Garter  wore  their  collars — "and  this  was  his  collar-day 
in  the  king's  palace.  He  was  pleasant  and  witty  all  the 
time.  Prynne  protested  his  innocence  to  the  people  of 
what  was  laid  to  his  charge.  Mr.  Burton  said  it  was  the 
happiest  pulpit  he  ever  preached  in.  After  two  hours 
the  hangman  began  to  cut  off  their  ears.  He  began 
with  Mr.  Burton's.  There  were  very  many  people. 
They  wept  and  grieved  much  for  Mr.  Burton,  and  at  the 
cutting  off  each  ear  there  was  such  a  roaring  as  if  every- 
one of  them  had  at  the  same  instant  lost  an  ear." 
Bastwick  gave  the  hangman  a  knife,  and  making  use  of 
his  surgical  knowledge,  taught  him  to  cut  off  his  ears 
quickly,  and  very  close,  that  he  might  come  there  no 
more.  The  hangman  hewed  off  Prynne's  ears,  "  which 
had  been  roughly  lopped  offthreeyearsbefore,"  whichput 
him  to  much  pain  ;  "  but  after  he  stood  long  on  the  scaffold 
before  his  head  could  be  got  out,  butthat  was  a  shame." 

Popular  sympathy  was  not  confined  to  London.  As 
the  three  passed  through  the  country  to  their  respective 
prisons,  men  flocked  to  greet  them  as  mar- 
tyrs.   "The  common  people,"  we  are  told,  fympatiiy^^ 
"  are    extremely    compassionate  towards 
them."    No  ordinary  prison  was  thought  likely  to  re- 
move them  sufficiently  far  from  friendly  looks  and  hands, 
and  Prynne  was  finally  sent  to  Jersey,  Burton  to  Guern- 
sey, Bastwick  to  the  Scilly  Isles. 

Popular  indignation  found  due  expression  in  literature. 
In  the  ComuSy  written  in   1634,  Milton  had  contented 
himself  with  setting  forth  his  own  view  of 
spiritual  life.     In  the  Lycidas,  written  m     1 5.  Milton's 
1638,  he  burst  forth  into  a  stirring  protest 


lOO 


The  Reign  of  Thorough. 


against  the  evil  system  which  was  crushing  out  the  vigor 
of  religion.  Under  the  thin  disguise  of  the  terms  of  a 
shepherd's  life,  he  bemoans  a  young  friend  who  had 
been  lately  drowned.  But  he  has  other  passions  in  his 
soul  than  that  of  sorrow.  The  shepherds  of  the  people, 
or,  in  plain  English,  the  clergy,  moved  his  indigna- 
tion : — 

How  well  could  I  have  spared  for  thee,  young  swain, 

Enow  of  such  as  for  their  bellies'  sake, 

Creep  and  intrude,  and  climb  into  the  fold ! 

Of  other  care  they  little  reckoning  make 

Than  how  to  scramble  at  the  shearer's  feast 

And  shove  away  the  worthy  bidden  guest, 

Blind  mouths  !  that  scarce  themselves  know  how  to  hold 

A  sheep-book,  or  have  learnt  aught  else  the  least 

That  to  the  faithful  herdsman's  art  belongs. 

What  recks  it  them  ?    What  need  they?    They  are  sped  ; 

And  when  they  list,  their  lean  and  flashy  songs 

Grate  on  their  scrannel  pipes  of  wretched  straw. 

The  hungry  sheep  look  up  and  are  not  fed. 

But  swollen  with  wind  and  the  rank  mist  they  draw, 

Rot  inwardly  and  foul  contagion  spread. 

The  wolf  of  Rome  too  was  busy : 

Besides  what  the  grim  wolf  with  privy  paw 

Daily  devours  apace,  and  nothing  said. 

But  it  would  not  be  for  ever.  The  two  Houses  of  Parha- 
ment  would  meet  some  day,  and  the  edifice  would 
crumble  to  the  dust. 

But  that  two-handed  engine  at  the  door 
Stands  ready  to  strike  once  and  strike  no  more. 

The  feeling  of  those  days  left  its  trace  on  political 
phraseology.    The  English  constitution,  like  all  other 


1 


1638. 


Wentworth  in  Ireland. 


lOI 


constitutions  of  Western  Europe,  knew  of       „ , 

§6.  King, 

estates  of  the  realm  gathered  round  the  Lords  and 
king.  In  England,  as  all  men  knew  in  Commons. 
1629,  the  three  estates  were  the  Lords  Spiritual,  the 
Lords  Temporal  and  the  Commons.  In  1640  men  talked, 
as  uninstructed  men  talk  now,  of  King,  Lords,  and 
Commons,  as  the  three  estates  of  the  realm.  The  blunder 
had  a  grim  wisdom  of  its  own.  It  meant  that  English- 
men, if  they  could  help  it,  would  be  ruled  no  longer  by 
the  clergy,  and  that  they  would  only  be  ruled  by  the 
king  if  he  acted  in  combination  with  the  Lords  and  the 
Commons.  They  had  not  yet  come  to  ask  that  the 
Lords  and  Commons  should  rule  without  the  king.  But 
they  were  weary  of  a  system  under  which  the  king  was 
everything  and  the  nation  nothing. 

Section  IV. —  Wentworth  in  Ireland, 

It  was  only  at  the  close  of  Elizabeth's  reign  that  Ire- 
land was  brought  under  real  subjection  to  the  crown  of 
England.    Under  James  the  process  of  re-     ^  ^  ^^^^ 
ducing  the  various  tribes  under  a  settled     ^  i.  The 

J        J     1  ,  ^'        n         Irish  tribes. 

and  orderly  government  was  contmually 
advancing.  But  the  task  was  a  hard  one.  Each  tribe 
in  the  wilder  parts  of  Ireland  possessed  more  lands  than 
it  could  cultivate,  if,  indeed,  it  cared  for  anything  more 
than  to  pasture  cattle  upon  them.  The  chiefs,  with  their 
warlike  followers,  did  very  much  as  they  pleased,  made 
war  when  they  liked,  and  took  their  subjects'  property 
when  they  liked. 

The  English  government  resolved  to  estabhsh  a 
better  state  of  thine^s.    Peaceable  cultivators 

§2.  Plans  of 

settled  on  their  own  property  would  be  the  English 
better  off  themselves,  and  would  be  likely  to  gt^vernment. 
make   better   subjects.     The   government  therefore 


I02 


The  Reign  of  Thorough. 


1610. 


deliberately  set  itself  to  bring  into  existence  a  class  of 
native  proprietors.  Yet  change,  though  it  be  for  the 
better,  is  always  dangerous,  and  unless  the  government 
were  strong  as  well  as  just,  there  was  a  risk  that  the 
chiefs  and  their  armed  followers  would  rise  in  insurrec- 
tion before  the  change  was  accomplished. 

Now-a-days  the  government  would  ship  off  a  few 
regiments  to  Dublin  to  maintain  order.  In  James' 
reign  the  government  had  no  regiments  to 
iZ'iti^^  send,  and  no  money  with  which  to  raise 
ufster^^^^  °^  them.  An  excuse  was  furnished  by  the  re- 
bellion and  flight  of  the  two  chiefs  by  whom 
the  greater  part  of  Ulster  was  ruled.  The  north  of  Ire- 
land was  declared  to  be  forfeited  to  the  crown,  and  was 
given  over  to  English  and  Scottish  colonists.  Lands,  it 
is  true,  were  assigned  to  some  of  the  natives.  But  they 
had  no  reason  to  trust  the  intruders,  and  the  change  in 
all  the  conditions  of  their  life  was  too  sudden  to  allow 
them  to  adapt  themselves  easily  to  it.  Even  if  this  had 
not  been  the  case,  there  was  the  feeling  rankling  in  their 
bosoms,  that  under  the  cover  of  legal  forms  which  were 
unintelligible  to  them,  they  had  been  stripped  of  the 
lands  of  their  fathers. 

The  religious  difference,  too,  was  still  a  source  of 
serious  danger.  The  man  who  looked  to  the  Pope  for 
^  ^  ^  his  creed  was  likely  to  look  to  the  King  of 
sionin  Spain  for  his  politics.    Yet  it  was  impossible 

li eland.  compcl  a  wliole  nation  to  change  its  belief, 

and,  with  some  intermittent  efforts  at  persecution,  the 
government  was  obliged  to  trust  in  the  main  to  persua- 
sion. It  was  to  trust  to  a  broken  reed.  The  Protestant 
Church  of  Ireland  was  in  utter  confusion.  Its  lands  and 
income  had  been  scrambled  for  by  self-seeking  ad- 
venturers till  there  was  scarcely  a  parish  or  even  a 


1638.  Wentworth  in  Ireland, 


bishopric  in  Ireland  of  which  the  incumbent  was  not  re- 
duced to  poverty.  It  was  only  by  heaping  upon  one  man 
offices  so  numerous  that  it  was  hopeless  for  him  to  dream 
of  fulfilling  his  nominal  duties,  that  it  was  possible  to  in- 
duce any  one  to  accept  an  Irish  benefice  at  all.  The 
natives  gazed  upon  the  spectacle  without  respect,  and  at- 
tended mass  in  secret. 

In  the  summer  of  1633  Wentworth  arrived  at  Dublin 
to  undertake  the  government  of  Ireland.    He  brought 
with  him  a  perfectly  fearless  spirit,  a  rapid 
and  clear  intelligence,  and  a  firm  determina-     g 's.'^Went- 
tion  to  establish  orderly  rule  in  that  country,  ^^^i^""^^ 
which  had  known  less  of  it  than  any  other 
country  in  Europe.    He  brought  with  him,  too,  a  con- 
temptuous disregard  for  that  sense  of  obedience  to  law 
y/hich  it  is  the  first  duty  of  every  wise  government  to  culti- 
vate.   It  was  enough  for  him  if  the  right  thing  was  done. 
How  it  was  done  he  cared  but  little. 

Whatever  the  merits  and  defects  of  the  new  Lord  Deputy 
may  have  been,  it  was  unfortunate  for  him  that  he  could 
not  legislate  without  the  Irish  Parliament.  In 
England  the  voice  of  Parliament  was  com-  ^6.  The  Irish 


ing  to  be  more  than  ever  the  voice  of  a  lamen  . 
united  nation.  In  Ireland  there  was  no  nation  to  represent. 
There  were  members  who  were  elected  by  the  native  pop- 
ulation, and  members  who  were  elected  by  the  English 
colonists.  There  was  no  common  feeling,  no  possibility  of 
combining  for  any  rational  object.  What  Ireland  wanted 
was  a  government  like  the  government  of  India  at  the  pre- 
sent day,  supporting  itself  on  an  irresistible  army,  and 
guided  by  statesmanlike  intelligence.  Wentworth  saw  this 
with  a  glance.  In  i634he  called  aParliament,  threatened  it, 
cajoled  it,  appealed  to  the  interest  of  each  set  of  men  in  it 
separately,  till  he  got  the  money  which  he  wanted.  A 


J.Q4  The  Reign  of  Thoi^oiigh,  1633. 

well-paid,  well-disciplined  army  was  the  result.  The 
thing  was  well  done.  The  manner  in  which  it  was  done 
was  not  so  well.  The  evil  was  perhaps  inevitable,  as 
matters  stood.  As  much  cannot  be  said  of  Wentworth's 
mode  of  treating  the  popular  demands.  Before  he  came 
to  Ireland  the  king  had  offered  certain  conditions  in  re- 
turn for  the  expected  grant  of  subsidies.  Wentworth 
took  upon  himself  the  responsibility  of  breaking  the 
king's  promises  by  simply  refusing  to  fulfil  those  which  he 
did  not  think  fit  to  keep.  It  is  probable  that  he  seriously 
believed  that  Ireland  would  be  the  better  if  those  promi- 
ses were  not  kept.  But  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  he  had 
any  conception  of  the  demoralizing  influence  exercised  by 
a  government  which  openly  evades  its  engagements. 

As  far  as  material  interests  were  concerned,  Ireland 
\  7  Ireland  ^"^^  never  been  so  prosperous  as  it  became 
underwent-     under  Wentworth.    Wealth  took  the  place 

worth.  ^ 

of  poverty,  trade  and  commerce  sprang  up 
where  none  had  existed  before.  The  flax  industry  of  the 
North  of  Ireland  owes  its  origin  to  Wentworth's  protect- 
ing hand.  His  ecclesiastical  system  was  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal system  of  Laud,  though  it  was  put  in  force  with  rather 
more  discretion.  Roman  Catholics  and  Puritans  were 
repressed,  whilst  a  reforming  hand  was  laid  upon  the 
Church  itself.  Churches  and  schools  were  built  and  re- 
paired. The  revenue  of  the  clergy  was  snatched  out  of 
the  hands  of  those  who  had  filched  it  away,  and  a  begin- 
ning was  made  of  the  establishment  of  a  body  of  minis- 
ters who  might  represent  the  English  ecclesiastical  sys- 
tem with  decency  in  the  eyes  of  the  natives.  In  the  civil 
and  military  administration  of  the  country,  incompetent 
or  self-seeking  officials  were  weeded  out  of  the  service, 
and  were  replaced  by  others  in  whom  the  Deputy  could 
place  implicit  confidence. 


1634. 


Wentworth  in  Ireland. 


That  Wentworth  should  make  many  enemies  in  such 
a  process  is  quite  intelligible.  But  he  made  far  more 
enemies  than  was  absolutely  necessary.  His     ,  „ 

?  o-  His 

harsh  and  overbearing  nature  could   not  overbearing 
brook  opposition,  and  the  manner  in  which  temper, 
he  treated  those  whom  he  distrusted  caused  more  angry 
feeling  than  the  mere  fact  of  his  determination  to  dis- 
pense with  their  services. 

The  wrongs  done  to  the  Enghsh  officials  at  Dublin 
caused  a  profound  sensation  in  England.    The  charge 
which  Irishmen  mainly  bring  against  Went- 
worth is  that  he  urged  on  a  plan  for  coloni-  ^g.^pJoposed 
zing  Connaught  after  the  king  had  solemnly  £'onnaught°^ 
,  promised  that  it  should  not  be  colonized. 
The  Irish,  he  considered,  could  be  permanently  held  in 
obedience  only  by  a  strong  force  of  English  settlers,  who 
would  introduce  order  and  industry  into  those  wild  re- 
gions.   For  this  object  the  forms  of  law  were  converted 
into  instruments  of  arbitrary  power.    Juries  were  bulHed 
to  find  verdicts  according  to  Wentworth's  mind.  Legal 
quibbles  were  raised  which  gave  him  all  that  he  wanted. 
Wentworth's  system  of  government  seemed  liable  to  no 
rule,  and  broke  in  upon  the  ancient  traditions  and  the 
fixed  if  disorderly  habits  of  the  population  with  all  the 
caprice  and  violence  of  the  powers  of  nature. 

Wentworth's  rule  of  Ireland  was,  in  fact,  the  fullest 
development  of  that  system  of  government  which  was 
known  to  him  and  Laud  by  the  expressive 
nickname  of  "  thorough."  The  word  meant,  worth's  mode 
in  the  first  place,  a  thorough  contempt  of  all  ^JJJ^^"^' 
private  interests  and  personal  ends.  Office 
was  to  be  held,  not  to  enrich  the  holder  but  to  benefit 
the  State.    The  determination  to  set  the  State  above  the 
individual  led  to  an  equally  strong  deterniination  to  set 
I 


io6       Resistance  in  Scotland  and  England.  1637. 


the  State  above  classes  and  parties ;  above  prejudices 
however  deeply  rooted,  above  interests  however  widely 
spread.  Even  with  such  a  man  as  Wentworth  to  direct 
the  action  of  the  State,  such  a  pohcy  could  hardly  have 
attained  the  success  for  which  he  hoped.  It  grasped  too 
much  at  once,  and  whilst  improving  the  outward  condi- 
tion of  men,  it  lowered  their  moral  dignity  by  treating 
their  modes  of  thinking,  their  sentiments  and  aspirations, 
as  unworthy  of  a  moment's  consideration.  It  dealt  with 
human  beings  as  a  flock  of  sheep  is  dealt  with  by  the 
shepherd;  and  human  beings,  faulty  and  corrupt  though 
they  may  be,  are  capable  of  better  things  than  a  flock  of 
sheep.  Nor  was  it  possible  to  separate  the  effects  of 
Wentworth's  system  in  Ireland  from  the  effects  of  his 
systerrf  in  England.  In  Ireland,  in  intention  at  least,  it 
aimed  at  raising  the  condition  of  the  population  to  a 
higher  stage  of  civilization.  In  England  it  would  have 
debased  a  high-spirited  and  united  nation  to  a  lower 
stage  of  civilization.  In  Ireland  the  genius  of  Wentworth 
had  to  fall  back  in  the  last  resort  upon  the  support  of 
Charles.  In  England  the  weakness  of  Charles  was 
undermining  the  edifice  of  government,  and  for  good  or 
for  evil  Wentworth's  authority  in  Ireland  must  stand  or 
fall  with  the  authority  of  his  master  in  England. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

RESISTANCE  IN  SCOTLAND  AND  ENGLAND. 

Section  I. —  The  Downfall  of  Episcopacy  in  Scotla7id, 
Episcopacy  had  been   retained  in  England  because 
the  bishops  had  taken  part  in  the  English 
inScouln'd!''''^  Reformation.    Episcopacy  had  ceased  in 


1 6 3  7  •     Downfall  of  Episcopacy  in  Scotia  nd,  107 


Scotland  because  the  bishops  had  not  taken  part 
in  the  Scottish  Reformation.  The  bishops  who  were 
to  be  found  there  in  the  beginning  of  the  17th  century 
had  been  placed  in  office  by  James  because  he  wanted 
instruments  to  keep  the  clergy  in  order,  and  he  was  able 
to  do  this  because  the  nobles,  far  more  powerful  in  S-cot- 
land  than  in  England,  were  jealous  of  the  clergy.  The 
clergy  and  the  mass  of  religious  people  were  Puritan 
with  a  strength  of  Puritanism  unknown  in  England,  and 
it  had  only  been  by  the  threats  and  by  the  aid  of  the 
nobles  that  James  had  driven  the  clergy  to  accept  some 
few  English  church  forms,  such  as  kneeling  at  the  sacra- 
ment, and  keeping  of  Christmas  and  Easter.  But  even 
these  were  resisted  by  large  numbers  of  the  people,  and 
any  man  of  sense  would  have  seen  that  the  Scotch 
could  not  be  compelled  to  accept  further  ceremonies 
without  serious  risk. 

Neither  Laud  nor  Charles  could  be  satisfied  till  a 
new  Prayer  Book  was  drawn  up  for  Scotland, 

A.  D.  1637. 

which,  so  far  as  it  differed  at  all  from  the  ^  2.  The  nev/ 
English  service,  differed  in  a  sense  ad-  ^^^y^^-^^o^- 
verse  to  Puritanism.  On  July  23  an  attempt  was  made 
to  read  the  new  service  for  the  first  time  at  Edinburgh. 
Scarcely  were  the  first  words  uttered,  when  a  wild 
uproar  arose  amongst  the  women  who  were  present. 
Stools,  it  is  said,  were  thrown  at  the  officiating  minister's 
head.  A  man  ventured  to  say  "  Amen  '*  at  the  conclu- 
sion of  a  prayer.  "Dost  thou  say  mass  in  my  lug?'* 
(in  my  ear),  cried  one  of  the  viragos,  and  dashed  her 
Bible  in  his  face.  The  voice  of  the  rioters  was  the  voice 
of  Scotland.  The  whole  nation,  with  shght  exceptions, 
bristled  into  resistance.  Doubtless  other  causes  were 
mingled  with  religious  zeal.  The  nobles,  who  had  once 
been  jealous  of  the  clergy,  were  now  jealous  of  the 


io8        Resistance  in  Scotland  and  England.  1637. 

bishops,  and  suspected  that  Charles  meant  to  take  away 
from  them  the  lands  which  had  once  been  the  property 
of  the  Church.  The  national  feeling  was  offended  by 
the  introduction  of  a  service-book  from  England.  But 
whatever  were  the  motives  at  work,  Scotland  presented 
an  almost  united  front  in  opposition  to  the  detested  in- 
novations. 

As  Charles'  unwillingness  to  withdraw  from  his  ill- 
advised  position  became  known,  the  resistance  grew 
more  stubborn.    In  November  four  Com- 

A.  D.  1638. 

^3.  The  mittees,  known  as  the  Tables,  practically 
assumed  the  government  of  Scotland.  In 
February  almost  all  Scottish  men  were  hurrying  to  sign 
the  national  Covenant,  engaging  to  defend  the  reformed 
religion,  and  promising  "  to  labor  by  all  means  lawful  to 
recover  the  purity  and  liberty  of  the  gospel,  as  it  was 
established  and  professed  before  the  innovations." 

Charles  felt  the  insult  keenly.    But  he  was  obliged 
to  enter  into  negotiations.    The  Marquis  of  Hamilton,  a 
courtly,  inefficient  peer,  was  sent  to  wheedle 
§4  Hamilton  Scots,  if  it  mis^ht  be,  out  of  the  Covenant. 

in  bcotland.  ° 

Charles  had  recourse  to  those  subterfuges 
in  which  he  delighted  in  times  of  difficulty.  In  order  "  to 
win  time,"  Hamilton  was  to  give  ear  to  anything  the 
Scots  might  choose  to  say.  What  else  could  he  do  ?  The 
English,  it  is  known  at  court,  were  "  readier  to  join  the 
Scots  than  to  draw  their  swords  in  the  king's  service." 
Hamilton  was  instructed  to  promise  to  the  Scotch  a 
General  Assembly  of  the  Church,  to  be  followed  by  a 
Parliament;  and  on  September  2  a  proclamation  was 
issued  revoking  the  service-book  and  other  obnoxious 
measures,  and  promising  to  limit  the  powers  of  the 
*  bishops.  At  the  same  time  the  Scotch  were  asked  to 
abandon  their  Covenant  for  another  of  the  king's  inditing. 


1 6 3  7  •     Downfall  of  Episcopacy  in  Scotland.  109 


On  November  21  the  promised  Assembly  met  at  Glas- 
gow. A  General  Assembly  was  a  far  better 
-  representation  of  the  Scottish  nation  of  g^,v  i^sembfy. 
that  day  than  the  Parliament.  The  clerical 
element  was  predominant  in  the  Assembly  as  in  the 
nation.  But  it  did  not  stand  alone.  Together  with  144 
clergymen  sat  96  lay  elected  members,  chosen  by  the 
towns  and  country  districts,  and  comprising  the  bulk  of 
the  nobility.  Hamilton  was  there  to  represent  the 
king. 

It  was  not  long  before  Hamilton  found  himself  at  issue 
with  the  Assembly.  The  bishops  refused  to  acknow- 
ledge the  authority  of  an  Assembly  which  ^  ^ 
had  been  composed  without  reference  to  tion  of 
them.  The  Assembly  insisted  on  its  right  Episcopacy, 
to  pass  judgment  on  the  bishops.  Hamilton  resisted  to 
the  uttermost.  The  king,  he  said,  was  supreme  over  all 
causes  civil  and  ecclesiastic  ;  to  him  the  bishops  had  ap- 
pealed, and  he  alone  was  competent  to  be  their  judge. 
Finding  his  words  of  no  avail,  he  left  the  Assembly  and 
issued  a  proclamation  dissolving  it.  The  Assembly  took 
no  account  of  the  proclamation,  deposed  the  bishops, 
annulled  all  the  forms  and  ordinances  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  and  re-established  the  Presbyterian  system  in 
its  entirety. 

Politically,  the  step  thus  taken  was  of  the  very  highest 
importance.  In  opposition  to  the  theory  of  kingship  as 
the  supreme  authority  in  the  State,  the  Scotch  ,    ^     .  , 

r  ?  7  Practical 

had  virtually  unfurled  the  banner  of  repub-  repubiican- 
licanism.    They  still  called  themselves  sub-  ^^"^* 
jects  of  King  Charles,    But  they  decided  the  one  im- 
portant question  of  the  day  without  consulting  him, 
and  without  allowing  him  the  right  of  rejecting  or  modi- 
fying their  resolutions.    They  stretched  out  their  hand 


no       Resistance  in  Scotland  and  England.  1637. 


and  grasped  the  supremacy  which  Charles  had  used  so 
unwisely. 

If  all  this  meant  Republicanism,  it  did  not  mean 
liberty.    Presbyterianism  was  with  the  Glas- 

^8.  The  move-  - 

ment  not  a  gow  Assembly  a  form  of  church  order  estab- 
I  era  one.  lished  by  God  Himself,  and  announced  to 
men  in  the  Bible.  Christians  had  no  right  to  be  governed 
in  ecclesiastical  matters  otherwise  than  by  the  clergy, 
with  such  association  of  the  laity  as  the  special  church 
orders  of  any  given  country  might  direct.  But  there  was 
to  be  no  control  by  bishops,  no  control  by  the  king,  no 
liberty  of  speech  or  writing. 

For  all  that,  the  Scottish  movement  was  a  necessary 
preparation  for  liberty.    Not  till  the  majority  of  a  nation 
is  left  undisturbed  in  its  religious  or  political 

1 9.  Yet  It  was        .  ^ 

a  condition  of  prmciplcs  Can  it  venture  to  accord  freedom 
liberty.  ^  minority.    The  resolution  of  Charles 

and  Laud,  to  compel  a  nation  to  worship  God  in  a  way 
which  the  mass  of  that  nation  believed  to  be  displeasing 
to  God,  was  rightly  met  by  the  assertion  that  to  the  mass 
which  worship,  and  not  to  the  few  who  direct,  belongs 
the  choice  of  the  forms  in  which  worship  should  be 
clothed.  Whilst  the  conflict  lasted  it  was  no  more  possi- 
ble to  be  tolerant  of  disaffection  than  it  is  possible  for  a 
general  of  an  army  in  the  field  to  be  tolerant  of  disaffec- 
tion. But  the  mere  success  of  the  majority  of  the  nation 
would  eventually  bring  toleration  in  its  train.  The  strong 
can  afford  to  allow  things  to  be  done  and  words  to  be 
spoken  which  the  weak  will  be  eager  to  suppress  at  all 
hazards. 


1639. 


The  Bishops*  Wars, 


in 


Section  II. —  The  Bishops'  Wars  and  the  Short 
Barlia7nent. 

The  commotion  thus  begun  in  Scotland  was  certain 
to  spread  to  England.  If  the  claim  of  the  Scottish 
Assembly  went  further  than  the  claims  of  the  English 
Parliament,  it  was  nevertheless  of  the  same 

A.D.  1639. 

kind  as  that  which  had  been  advanced  by  §  1.  England 

.         ,  and  Scotland. 

the  Commons  m  1629.  Englishmen  had 
not  said  that  they  could  make  laws  without  the  king, 
or  that  Presbyterianism  was  of  divine  right.  But  they 
had  said  that  the  king  was  morally  bound  to  take  their 
advice,  and  that  the  doctrines  which  they  professed 
were  so  true  that  no  others  ought  to  be  openly  preached. 
Against  this  theory  Charles  and  Laud,  not  without  some 
thought  of  a  divine  right  of  kings  and  bishops  in  the 
background,  had  maintained  the  counter  theory  of  the 
royal  supremacy  in  church  matters.  If  Scotland  was 
allowed  to  throw  off  the  yoke,  it  would  not  be  long  before 
England  followed  its  example. 

If,  therefore,  the  king  was  not  to  abdicate  the  power 
with  which  he  believed  himself  to  be  entrusted  for  the 
good  of  both  nations,  war  there  must  be  with 
Scodand.    War,  too,  it  must  be  without  the      ^'  /^^P^^a- 

_  tions  for  war. 

support  of  an  English  Parliament,  which 

would  be  certain  to  expect  answers  to  awkward  questions. 

Voluntary  contributions  were  therefore  first  asked  from 

the  nobility,  and  strong  pressure  was  put  by  Laud  upon 

the  clergy  to  induce  them  to  follow  their  example.  The 

laity  in  general  did  not  show  any  eagerness  to  favor  the 

movement. 

The  Scotch  were  thoroughly  prepared.  The  kingdom 
swarmed  with  old  soldiers  who  had  served  in  Germany 
in  the  Thirty  Years*  War,  and  thus,  though  Scotland  had 


112 


Resistance  in  Scotland  and  Engla^id. 


1640. 


not  been  engaged  in  war  for  many  years, 
f  3  The  first.  '         j^^^j  at  her  disposal  a  veteran  force  to 

bishops  war.  ^ 

serve  as  a  nucleus  for  her  untrained  levies. 
At  the  beginning  of  June  some  20,000  men  were  gathered 
on  Dunse  Law,  a  hill  not  far  from  Berwick,  on  the  road 
to  Edinburgh.  Opposite  to  them  was  the  king,  with 
rather  more  than  22,000  Englishmen.  But  they  were 
Englishmen  who  had  no  heart  to  fight.  They  knew  that 
at  the  bottom  the  Scottish  cause  was  the  cause  of  England 
as  well.  Everything  was  in  disorder  in  Charles'  camp. 
The  men  had  not  food  enough  to  eat.  The  officers 
themselves  were  grumbling  at  the  tasks  assigned  to 
them.  The  recruits  scarcely  took  the  trouble  to  learn 
their  duty  as  soldiers,  and  one  of  them  sent  a  shot  through 
the  canvas  of  the  king's  tent.  Charles  was  warned  on 
every  hand  that,  with  such  men  at  his  back,  fighting  was 
impossible,  and  he  reluctantly  agreed  to  treat  for  peace. 
On  June  24  an  agreement  was  signed,  in  which  the  deeds 
of  the  Glasgow  Assembly  were  passed  over  in  silence, 
but  a  promise  was  given  that  all  affairs,  civil  and  eccle- 
siastical, should  be  settled  in  concurrence  wdth  an  As- 
sembly and  a  Parliament. 

Neither  the  Assembly  nor  the  Parliament  conducted 
itself  to  Charles'  satisfaction,  and  he  began  to  turn  his 
thoughts  towards  a  renewal  of  the  war. 
|    The°         Wentworth,  now  raised  to  the  earldom  of 
.hortParlia-     StrafTord,    came   over   from    Ireland  and 

ment.  ' 

Stirred  the  fire.  He  had  been  long  away 
from  England,  and  was  doubtless  but  little  aware  of  the 
temper  of  the  English  people.  He  counselled  the  sum- 
moning of  a  Parliament.  After  eleven  years'  intermis- 
sion, Parliament — the  Short  Parliament,  as  it  was  after- 
wards called — met  at  Westminster.  Charles  had  come 
upon  the  traces  of  some  communication  between  the 


1640. 


The  Bishops'  Wars: 


Scotch  insurgents  and  the  French  government,  and  he 
fancied  that  the  spirits  of  Enghshmen  would  be  stirred 
when  they  heard  of  a  treasonable  connection  with  their 
ancient  enemy.  But  Enghshmen  had  something  else 
to  think  of,  and  the  Commons  at  once  made  it  plain  that 
their  own  grievances  must  be  redressed  before  they 
would  give  anything  to  the  king.  As  the  grievances 
could  be  redressed  only  by  undoing  the  whole  of  Charles' 
ecclesiastical  system,  he  dissolved  Parhament  on  May  5, 
after  a  session  of  only  three-and-twenty  days.  To  yiekl 
except  to  force  would  be  to  renounce  every  principle  of 
his  life. 

It  was  impossible  that  the  dissolution  of  this  Parlia- 
ment should  leave  men's  tempers  as  they  ^  ^  ^.^^ 
were  before.    English  Puritanism  and  Scot-  arid  the  Com- 

.  .       ,  mons. 

tish  Presbyteriamsm  were  not  yet  quite  the 
same  thing.  But  they  were  rapidly  approaching  one 
another.  The  Puritans  had  discovered  that  the  king  so 
detested  their  principles  that  he  would  rather  engage  in 
war  with  scarcely  a  prospect  of  success,  than  yield  to 
their  demands.  They  still  shrank  from  acknowledging 
that  in  so  doing  he  was  only  acting  in  accordance  with 
the  conditions  of  his  nature.  With  what  remnant  of 
loyalty  still  remained,  they  laid  the  blame  on  Laud  and 
Strafford ;  on  Strafford  more  especially.  The  fact  stood 
out  clear  as  day  before  their  eyes  that  he  had  once  been 
the  leader  of  the  House  of  Commons,  and  that  he  was 
now  the  great  enemy  of  that  parliamentary  preponder- 
ance which  they  now  demanded  as  their  right.  He  was 
to  them  the  great  apostate,  terrible  in  his  wrath,  subtle  in 
bis  machinations. 

Whatever  allowance  a  fuller  inquiry  may  enable  us  to 
make  for  Strafford's  errors,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  he  had  thrown  himself  on  the  wrong  side  xo. 


114       Resistance  in  Scotlaiid  and  Englaitd.  1640. 


g6.  StrafF^rd's    the  £^reat  stru<(jjlc  of  his  day.    In  the  Ions; 

position.  .  ^  ° 

run,  m  the  course  of  years,  Strafford's  ob- 
jections to  the  predominance  of  Parhament  would  have 
to  be  Hstened  to,  and  it  would  be  necessary  to  provide 
remedies  against  the  evils  which  he  foresaw.  But  the 
immediate  danger  lay  in  another  direction.  The  orderly 
Elizabethan  government,  with  its  wise  statesmen  at  the 
head,  and  its  loyal  Parliaments  laying  their  advice  at  the 
foot  of  the  throne,  had  no  place  in  the  real  life  of  1640. 
Things  had  come  to  such  a  pass  that  men  must  choose 
between  the  supremacy  of  Charles  and  the  supremacy 
of  Parliament,  however  much  the  members  of  the 
Houses  might  veil  the  issue  of  persuading  themselves 
that  they  were  contending  for  King  and  Parliament 
against  the  obnoxious  advisers  of  the  King.  Nicer  dis- 
tinctions must  wait  till  that  quarrel  had  been  fought  out. 

A  few  months  were  to  pass  before  the  great  contention 
was  brought  to  an  issue.    Strafford  was  now  with  Charles 

as  he  marched  northwards.  But  even 
second  ^  Strafford  could  not  infuse  a  particle  of  his 

BLiiops'         spirit  into  that  disaffected  army.  The  Scotch 

invaded  England.  At  Newburn,  on  August 
28th,  they  crossed  the  Tyne,  driving  before  them  an 
English  force  in  headlong  panic.  Strafford  did  not 
venture  to  advise  the  prolongation  of  the  war  with  the 
army  in  such  a  temper.  Negotiations  were  opened,  and 
Northumberland  and  Durham  were  left  in  the  hands  of 
the  Scots  as  a  pledge  for  the  payment  of  their  expenses, 
at  the  rate  of  850/.  a  day,  till  a  permanent  treaty  could 
be  agreed  on. 

In  such  desperate  circumstances  another  Parliament 
was  unavoidable  if  the  Scots  were  to  be  con- 
!:oun^il!  tented.     The  king  had  already  called  round 

him,  after  an  obsolete  precedent,  a  Great 


£640.      The  Meeting  of  the  Long  Parliament.  115 


Council  of  Peers.  But  the  Peers  had  advised  him  to 
summon  ParHament,  and  that  advice  there  was  no  re- 
sisting. This  time  he  would  have  to  meet  the  opposition 
of  both  Houses. 

Section  III. —  The  Meeting  of  the  Long  Par lia?nent,  and 
the  ExectUion  of  Strafford. 

On  November  3,  1640,  that  great  assembly,  destined  to 
be  known  in  history  as  the  Long  Parliament,  met  at 
Westminster.    Charles  was  anxious  to  ob- 
tain an  immediate  vote  of  money.    But  Leedngof 
Parliament  had  work  of  its  own  to  do  first.  Parliament 
and  every  member  knew  that  there  were 
chances  on  the  side  of  the  Parliament  which  might  never 
be  offered  again.    If  Parliament  were  dissolved  before 
the  Scots  were  paid,  there  was  nothing  to  prevent  the 
Scottish  army  from  marching  to  London  without  opposi- 
tion.   For  once,  Charles  did  not  dare  to  dissolve  Parlia- 
ment, and  the  Commons  were  naturally  in  no  hurry  to 
provide  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  Scots. 

There  were  many  men  at  court  whom  the  Commons 
disliked.  There  was  one  man  whom  they  both  feared 
and  hated.    On  the  nth,  the  impeachment  ,  , 

?  2.  Impeach- 

of  Strafford  upon  the  charge  of  high  treason  ment  of 
was  moved  by  Pym,  who  at  once  took  the 
lead  in  the  House.  If  his  speech  was  an  attack  upon  the 
man,  it  was  also  an  arraignment  of  the  system  of  which 
that  man  was  the  highest  representative.  It  was  an  ap- 
peal to  the  rule  of  law  from  the  rule  of  will.  At  once  the 
charge  was  carried  up  to  the  Lords.  Strafford  was  just 
entering  the  House  as  the  message  arrived.  Shouts 
commanded  him  to  forbear  from  pressing  forward  to  his 
place.  He  left  the  House  only  as  a  prisoner.  Others  oi 
the  leading  officials  fled  abroad  to  escape  the  storm. 


u6       Resistance  in  Scotland  and  England.  i6j,i 


Laud  was  committed  to  the  Tower,  but  at  present  there 
was  no  thought  of  touching  the  old  man*slife. 

On  March  22,  1641,  the  trial  of  Strafford  began  in 

Westminster  Hall.  Day  by  day  the  king 
^-°Hu\riai  queen  came  down,  concealed  by  a  trel- 

lised  partition,  to  listen  to  the  proceedings. 
Article  after  article  was  enforced  by  the  arguments  of  the 
managers  for  the  Commons.  All  Strafford's  life  was 
unrolled  before  his  eyes  as  a  settled  attempt  to  overthrow 
the  constitution  in  England.  But  after  the  long  list  of 
his  offences  had  been  produced,  the  doubt  was  moved 
whether  all  these  things  together  would  constitute  high 
treason.  That  crime  was  strictly  defined  by  a  statute  of 
Edward  III.,  and  it  was  difficult  to  draw  any  one  act  of 
Strafford's  within  the  wording  of  that  statute.  Young 
Sir  Henry  Vane,  the  son  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  rum- 
maging amongst  his  father's  papers,  found  a  note  of 
a  speech  delivered  by  Strafford  in  council  at  the  time  of 
the  dissolution  of  the  Short  Parliament,  in  which  he  had 
spoken  of  the  king  as  "  absolved  and  loose  from  all  rule 
of  government."  "Your  Majesty,"  he  had  gone  onto 
say,  "  having  tried  all  ways  and  been  refused,  shall  be 
acquitted  before  God  and  man  ;  and  you  have  an  army 
in  Ireland  that  you  may  employ  to  reduce  this  kingdom 
to  obedience,  for  I  am  confident  the  Scots  cannot  hold 
out  three  months."  In  order  to  urge  that  this  constituted 
treason,  it  was  necessary  in  the  first  place  to  show  that 
the  kingdom  intended  was  England  and  not  Scotland, 
an  interpretation  which,  to  say  the  least  of  it  was  ex- 
tremely doubtful,  and  then  to  show  that  an  attack  upon 
the  institutions  of  the  country  was  equivalent  to  the  crime 
of  high  treason. 

The  Commons  became  aware  that  the  Lords  were 
wavering  on  the  legality  of  the  sentence  which  they  were 


Execution  of  Strafford, 


117 


asked  to  give.  They  dropped  the  impeach- 
ment and  substituted  a  bill  of  attainder.  An  letchmen'T" 
impeachment  called  upon  the  Lords  to  act  ^Z^'^^i^^^Lx, 
as  Judges,  and  to  decide,  in  some  sort  after 
legal  rules.  A  bill  of  attainder,  passing  both  Houses  and 
accepted  by  the  king,  was  an  act  of  power  for  which  no 
reasons  need  be  given.  Pym,  with  his  intense  reverence 
for  law,  struggled  against  the  conclusion.  Treason,  he 
held,  was  not  an  offence  against  the  king's  private  per- 
son, but  against  the  king  as  the  head  and  representative 
of  England,  and  an  attack  upon  England  must  be  held 
to  be  the  worst  attack  upon  the  king.  Such  arguments 
could  not  break  down  the  scruples  of  the  Peers.  The 
House  of  Commons  voted  to  proceed  by  bill.  The  Lords, 
who  were  unwilling  to  vote  as  judges  that  high  treason 
had  been  committed,  had  no  objection  to  treat  Strafford 
as  a  public  enemy.  On  May  8  the  bill  of  attainder  had 
passed  both  Houses. 

If  Strafford  was  a  public  enemy,  he  was  at  least  the 
friend  of  the  king,  and  Charles  had  given  him  a  special 
promise  when  he  came  to  London,  that  not  ^  ^  Execu 
a  hair  of  his  head  should  be  touched.  To  tionofbtraf- 
save  him  was  well-nigh  impossible.  But  it  ^ 
was  not  for  Charles  to  set  his  hand  to  the  sentence. 
Charles  hesitated,  and  was  lost.  The  outer  world  of  po- 
pular resolve,  the  very  existence  of  which  in  his  self-con- 
tained imagination  he  had  absolutely  ignored,  confronted 
him  with  firm  determination.  Charles  blenched  before 
the  unexpected  foe  and  consigned  his  truest  supporter  to 
the  scaffold. 

Strafford  was  to  die  asa  public  enemy.  The 
old  Tudor  constitution  was  based  upon  the     ge^  He^dfes 
co-operation  of  king  and  Parliament.    The  enemy^^^^ 
king  had  isolated  himself  not  merely  from 


ii8       Resistance  in  Scotland  and  England.  1641. 


the  House  of  Commons,  but  from  the  nation  which 
was  behind  it,  and  to  his  attempt  to  rule  without  reference 
to  the  nation  Strafford  had  devoted  all  the  strength  of 
his  intellect.  He  could  not  see  that  the  foundations  of 
order  and  of  wise  government  could  be  laid  far  more 
firmly  in  the  popular  will  than  in  the  will  of  an  individual. 
With  his  eyes  open  to  the  blunders  and  faults  of  repre- 
sentative assemblies,  he  deliberately  excluded  from  his 
calculations  the  blunders  and  errors  of  the  king.  It  was 
too  late  to  learn  the  lesson  when  he  was  abandoned  by 
Charles.  With  the  words  ' '  Put  not  your  trust  in  princes 
on  his  lips,  he  prepared  for  the  scaffold.  On  May  12 
the  axe  fell,  and  the  great  royalist  statesman  had  ceased 
for  ever  to  influence  the  course  of  this  world's  affairs. 

Section  IV. — Demands  of  the  Commons. 

It  was  well  that  Pym's  voice  should  be  raised  for  law. 
But  it  was  not  with  law  that  the  Commons  were  imme- 
§  I  The  diately  concerned.    Virtually,  the  civil  war 

struggle  for  began  with  Strafford's  execution.  It  was  a 
supremacy,  struggle  to  ascertain  whether  the  Crown  or 
the  House  of  Commons  was  the  strongest  power  in  the 
country.  When  that  question  should  be  answered,  it 
would  be  possible  to  build  anew  on  the  old  foundations. 
It  is  useless  to  watch  the  doings  of  this  Parliament,  and 
to  ask  how  far  its  acts  were  in  compliance  with  some 
constitutional  standard  of  the  15th  or  the  19th  century.  It 
is  useless  to  ask  whether  they  might  not  have  regulated 
the  king's  authority  instead  of  shattering  it.  It  was  its 
business  to  shatter  it  because,  with  Charles  upon  the 
throne,  it  was  impossible  to  regulate  it. 

Thick  and  fast  the  blows  succeeded  one  another. 
With  the  Scottish  army  in  the  background,  the  Com- 


1 64 1 .  Demands  of  the  Commons.  1 1 9 

mons  had  obtained  the  royal  assent  in  ^  t^.  . 
February  to  a  bill  authorizing  the  election  tioaofthe 

-     ^  1  •     ,T  powers  of 

of  a  Parliament  at  least  once  in  three  years,  the  crown, 
even  if  the  king  did  not  summon  one.  In 
May  the  king  agreed  that  the  existing  Parliament  should 
not  be  dissolved  without  its  own  consent,  a  stipulation 
which,  as  it  rendered  the  House  of  Commons  independent 
of  all  power  external  to  itself,  gave  into  his  hands  a 
dictatorship  which  would  have  been  ruinous  in  an 
ordinary  state  of  things,  but  which  was  absolutely  neces- 
sary for  the  special  work  of  establishing  its  own  supre- 
macy. One  after  another  the  instruments  by  which  the 
king  had  been  enabled  to  defy  the  nation  were  snatched 
from  his  hands.  Ship-money  was  declared  to  be  illegal, 
and  tonnage  and  poundage  were  no  more  to  be  levied 
without  parliamentary  consent.  An  end  was  put  to  the 
Star  Chamber  and  the  High  Commission.  The  king 
therefore  could  no  longer  pay  his  way  without  recourse 
to  Parliament,  nor  could  he  send  any  of  his  subjects 
to  prison  without  recourse  to  the  ordinary  legal  authori- 
ties, a  rule  which,  in  most  cases,  implied  recourse  to  a 
jury  as  well. 

In  July  the  work  was  done,  and  in  August  a  treaty 
was  signed  with  the  Scots.    The  money  due 
to  the  Scottish  army  was  paid,  and  the  men  ?  3-  The  Scots 

^  ^       '  return  home. 

who  had  delivered  England  recrossed  the 
border  and  dispersed  to  their  northern  homes. 

Why  were  not  the  Commons  satisfied  ?  In  the  first 
place,  because  they  could  not  trust  the  king.  It  was  not 
in  the  nature  of  things  that  any  man  not 
sufficiently  clear-sighted  to  have  avoided  oUh?king^' 
falling  into  such  difficulties  should  be  suffi- 
ciently clear-sighted  to  act  with  prudence  in  the  position 
»nto  which  he  had  now  been  driven.    It  was  impossible 


I20        Resistance  in  Scotland  and  England.  1641. 


to  suppose  that  Charles  would  consent  to  see  himself 
stripped  forever  of  that  authority  which  he  had  been 
taught  to  consider  his  own  by  right.  He  might  not 
directly  seek  to  annul  the  legislation  to  which  he  had 
assented.  But  there  were  hundreds  of  indirect  ways  in 
which  he  might  gather  up  the  fragments  of  authority 
which  were  left,  and  attempt  once  more  to  impress  his 
will  upon  England. 

Such  considerations  would  probably  have  been  of 
little  avail  against  the  king  if  there  had  been  no  question 
practically  in  dispute  between  him  and  the  Commons. 
But  if  the  political  arrangements  had  been  settled,  the 
ecclesiastical  arrangements  were  still  unsettled.  The 
king  still  believed  that  what  Laud  had  done 
question ^^"^^^  been  rightly  done.  The  Commons  be- 
lieved that  it  had  been  wrongly  done.  Nor 
was  this  merely  a  theoretical  difference.  If  Laud  was  in 
prison,  the  other  bishops  were  not,  and  unless  something 
were  done  to  take  power  out  of  the  bishops'  hands,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  prevent  them  from  seizing  an  early 
opportunity  of  exercising  their  influence  in  a  way  which 
seemed  very  evil  to  the  House  of  Commons.  Laws 
might  be  made  to  abolish  the  late  innovations,  to  compel 
the  removal  of  the  communion  table  from  its  new  posi- 
tion, to  abrogate  offensive  rites  and  ceremonies;  but 
unless  some  way  were  found  of  limiting  the  pov/er  of  the 
bishops  whose  duty  it  was  to  see  that  the  new  laws  were 
carried  into  effect,  it  was  to  be  feared  that  they  would,  to 
a  great  extent,  remain  a  dead  letter.  The  Church  would 
be  sure,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Commons,  to  assume 
a  form  more  or  less  Puritan,  and  such  a  Church  could 
not  safely  be  entrusted  to  Laudian  bishops. 

The  first  action  taken  was  but  a  little  part  of  that 
which  was  to  follow.    In  March  a  bill  was  brought  in  to 


1641. 


Demands  of  the  Commons. 


121 


restrain  bishops  from  meddling  with  secular 

affairs.    If  it  passed,  they  could  no  longer  fjf^  ^^sUop^s^^'"^^ 

sit  in  the  privy  council,  or  in  the  House  of 

Lords.    In  the  House  of  Lords  it  met  with  opposition, 

and  in  June  it  was  thrown  out  by  a  decided  majority. 

The  Commons  warmed  to  the  encounter.    They  replied 

by  pushing  on  a  root  and  branch  bill,  as  it  was  then 

called,  for  the  entire  abolition  of  bishops  in  the  Church. 

The  opposition  to  these  bills  did  not  proceed  altogether 
from  the  friends  of  Laud's  system.  There 
was  a  strong  middle  party  forming  in  both  l/odJrates 
Houses  in  the  nation,  desirous  of  a  compro- 
mise, in  which  Episcopacy  should  be  in  some  way  modi- 
fied by  arranging  that  the  bishops  should  share  their 
authority  with  the  ministers  of  their  dioceses 

Foremost  among  the  new  party  of  Moderates  was  the 
gentle  and  amiable  Lucius  Carey,  Lord  Falkland.  In 
early  life  Falkland  had  tried  and  abandoned 
a  soldier's  life,  and  had  retired  to  a  country  fand^^^^' 
life  and  to  his  books."  His  reputation  for 
learning  rapidly  grew.  '*  He  was  of  so  stupendous  learn- 
ing in  all  kinds,  and  in  all  languages,  that  a  man  would 
have  thought  he  had  been  entirely  conversant  with  books, 
and  had  never  spent  an  hour  but  in  reading  and  writing ; 
yet  his  humanity,  courtesy,  and  affability  were  such  that 
he  would  have  been  thought  to  have  been  bred  in  the 
best  courts,  but  that  his  good  nature,  charity,  and  delight 
in  doing  good  and  communicating  all  he  knew,  exceeded 
that  breeding."  But  it  is  neither  for  his  learning  nor  for 
his  benevolence  that  Falkland  is  best  remembered.  His 
house  at  Great  Tew,  a  few  miles  from  Oxford,  was  the 
gathering  place  for  a  company  of  wise  or  witty  men,  who 
would  have  been  content  to  follow  Laud  in  his  opposition 
to  the  dogmatism  of  the  Puritans,  but  who  abhorred 
K 


122 


Resistance  in  Scotland  and  E7igland,  1641. 


Laud's  despotic  enforcement  of  uniformity.  Thither 
came  Chillingworth,  the  herald  of  a  wide  and  tolerant 
Christianity.  Thither  came  others,  such  as  Sheldon  and 
Morley,  who  lived  to  be  the  pillars  of  the  Church  of  the 
Restoration,  after  their  generosity  had  been  chilled  by 
the  icy  wind  of  Puritan  supremacy.  There,  too,  came 
men  who  wxre  but  the  verse-writers  and  the  jest-makers 
of  the  day.  Falkland  had  a  kindly  word  and  a  helping 
hand  for  them  all.  When  they  visited  Great  Tew  they 
"  found  their  lodgings  there  as  ready  as  in  the  colleges  ; 
nor  did  the  lord  of  the  house  know  of  their  coming  or 
going,  nor  who  were  in  his  house,  till  he  came  to  dinner 
or  supper  where  all  still  met ;  otherwise,  there  was  no 
trouble,  ceremony,  or  restraint,  to  forbid  men  to  come 
to  the  house,  or  to  make  them  weary  of  staying  there ; 
so  that  many  came  thither  to  study  in  a  better  air,  finding 
all  the  books  they  could  desire  in  his  library,  and  all  the 
persons  together  whose  society  they  could  wish,  and  not 
find  any  other  society." 

Edward  Hyde,  the  future  Lord  Chancellor  Clarendon, 
and  the  author  of  that  History  of  the  Great  Rebellion 

which  was  to  teach  four  generations  of  Eng- 
f^yd^^^^^^      lishmen  to  look  with  admiration  upon  the 

royalist  cause,  had  a  lawyer's  dislike  of  the 
assumption  of  temporal  authority  by  the  bishops,  but  a 
mind  far  less  liberal  than  that  of  Falkland. 

To  those  who  look  back  from  these  times  of  peace 
upon  those  days  of  bitter  strife,  Falkland's  policy  of  the 

compromise  seems  at  first  sight  very  wise. 

^  10.  Weak-  o  J 

nessofthe  But  it  may  fairly  be  doubted  whether  com- 
Moderates.  promise  was  then  possible.  As  things  then 
stood,  bishops  were  the  nominees  of  the  crvown.  They 
had  for  the  most  part  been  appointed  to  maintain  a 
state  of  things  which  it  was  thought  desirable  to  sweep 


I64I. 


Demands  of  the  Commons. 


123 


away.  To  surround  such  men  with  counsellors  whose 
ideas  were  diametrically  opposed  to  their  own  would  be 
to  constitute  anarchy  and  call  it  government.  Unless 
the  whole  bench  of  bishops  was  to  be  deposed  and  a  new 
one  nominated  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  the 
Commons,  the  proposed  compromise  could  not  possibly  be 
put  in  working  order.  The  weakness  of  the  Moderate 
party  was  that  it  had  no  practical  plan  to  propose,  and 
that  even  if  such  a  plan  could  have  been  found,  men's 
minds  were  too  excited  by  past  injustice  to  listen  to  any- 
thing which  did  not  give  the  amplest  assurance  for  the 
supremacy  of  Puritanism.  For  a  little  time  the  battle 
was  postponed.  The  king  announced  his  resolution  to 
visit  Scotland.  The  Houses  took  upon  themselves  to 
issue  orders  for  the  abolition  of  the  late  innovations  in 
England.  They  then  adjourned  for  six  weeks,  to 
October  20. 

It  was  in  the  king's  power  to  convert  the  weakness  of 
the  Moderate  party  into  strength.  If  he  could  once  im- 
press men  with  the  notion  that  he  had 
frankly  accepted  the  new  order  of  things  ting'spLrt 
all  might  yet  go  well.  It  was  because  he  weakness 
did  not,  could  not,  frankly  accept  it  that  dis- 
trust arose.  The  belief  that  Charles  regarded  the 
Moderate  party  simply  as  a  lever  to  bring  about  the 
restoration  of  much  of  that  which  he  had  yielded 
strengthened  the  hands  of  Pym  in  his  demand  for  further 
guarantees.  It  was  in  vain  that  Charles  brought  into 
his  council  men  who  sympathized  with  the  Commons. 
It  was  in  vain  that  he  entrusted  offices  of  State  to  Falk- 
land and  Hyde.  Pym's  eye  was  upon  him,  and  Pym 
believed  that  he  would  be  governed  by  his  own  wishes, 
and  not  by  Falkland  and  Hyde. 


124       Resistance  in  Scotland  and  England.  1641. 


Section  V. —  The  Grand  Remonstrance  and  the  Rupture 
with  the  King* 

The  news  from  Scotland  was  every  day  growing  more 
alarming.    The  dominant  spirit  in  Scotland  now  was 

Argyle,  a  bad  warrior  but  an  able  states- 
ti^iie  man.     With  patient  skill  he  had  woven 

Scofiand.         firmly  all  the  elements  of  dissatisfaction  into 

a  compact  national  resistance.  It  was  in 
vain  that  the  fiery  young  Earl  of  Montrose  had  writhed 
under  his  supremacy,  had  entered  into  correspondence 
with  the  king,  and  had  offered  to  denounce  Argyle  as  a 
traitor.  Before  the  king  reached  Scotland  Montrose  was 
in  prison  as  a  plotter.  Before  he  had  been  there  long, 
all  Edinburgh  was  ringing  with  a  further  plot  of  Mon- 
October  12       trose's  for  kidnapping,  if  not  murdering, 

Argyle  and  his  leading  followers,  in  which 
the  king  was  strongly  suspected  of  being  involved. 
Nothing  was  proved,  and  the  only  result  was  that  the 
king  threw  himself  entirely  into  the  hands  of  Argyle. 
filling  every  place  in  the  government  with  his  supporters. 
In  return,  they  gave  him  their  word  of  honor  that  Scot- 
land would  never  interfere  in  the  religious  quarrels  of 
the  English. 

If  some  inkling  of  these  Scottish  arrangements  had 
filtered  through  the  ears  of  Pym,  the  effect  was  as  nothing 
„  compared  with  the  effect  of  the  tidings  from 

g  2.  The  ,  •  1  T  1 

Irish  insur-  another  quarter  which  spread  over  London 
rection.  Novcmbcr  I.    The  north  of  Ireland  was 

aflame  with  insurrection.  The  strong  hand  of  Strafford 
had  been  removed,  and  the  Celtic  population  had  turned 
savagely  on  the  English  and  Scottish  colony.  Murder, 
and  atrocities  worse  than  murder — so  at  least  rumor. 


I64I. 


The  Grand  Remonstrance. 


doubtless  not  without  large  exaggeration,  affirmed — had 
ruled  unchecked.  All  England  believed  that  tender 
women  had  been  stripped  naked  and  turned  out  into  the 
wintry  waste,  to  die  of  cold  and  starvation  ;  that  others 
had  been  driven  into  the  river  and  drowned ;  that  inno- 
cent children  had  been  slaughtered  as  savagely  as  full- 
grown  men  ;  and  that  those  who  escaped  the  sword  or 
the  club  had  wandered  helplessly  about  till  death  brought 
forgetfulness  of  their  sufferings.  The  lowest  estimate  of 
the  destruction  which  was  able  to  gain  credit  in  England 
raised  to  30,000  the  number  of  the  victims. 

One  bitter  cry  for  vengeance  went  up  from  England, 
as  pitiless  as  that  which  in  our  own  time  arose  when  the 
news  of  the  Indian  Mutiny  reached  our 
shores.    But  with  anger  mingled  distrust  of     ^3-  Eflfect  of 

°  °  the  news. 

the  king.  He  had  been  doing  strange 
things  in  Scotland.  Might  he  not  have  been  doing 
strange  things  in  Ireland  as  well  ?  How  was  it  possible 
to  trust  him  with  an  army  to  put  down  the  Irish  rebel- 
lion ?  It  was  but  too  likely  that  he  would  use  it  to  put 
down  the  English  Parliament  first.  To  some  extent  no 
doubt  there  may  have  been  exaggeration  in  these  sus- 
picions. But  they  were  right  in  the  main.  Charles,  with 
an  army  at  his  command,  would  undoubtedly  not  have 
tolerated  Pym.  It  is  hardly  likely  that  he  would  have 
retained  even  Hyde  and  Falkland  in  his  council.  The 
time  had  come  when  it  was  absolutely  necessary  for 
England  to  have  a  government  by  which  it  could  be 
guided.  It  was  no  longer  within  the  limits  of  possibility 
that  Charles  should  offer  it  such  a  government.  He 
stood  alone,  separate  from  the  feelings  and  wishes  of  his 
people,  as  completely  without  sympathy  with  the 
Moderate  party  as  he  was  without  sympathy  with  the 
most  violent  of  his  opponents.    It  was  an  absolute  neces- 


120       Resistance  in  Scotland  and  England.  1641. 


sity  to  get  rid  of  Charles,  and  to  substitute  some  man  or 
body  of  men  in  his  room. 

It  was  not  in  the  nature  of  things,  however,  that  even 
those  who  were  most  resolved  to  go  forward  should  at 
once  open  their  eyes  to  the  distinct  point 
Grand  Re-  towards  which  they  were  surely  treading.  It 
monstrance.  enough  for  the  present  for  them  to 

issue  a  manifesto  showing  what  Charles'  errors  had  been, 
in  order  that  all  men  might  see  why  it  was  so  difficult  to 
trust  him  now.  The  Grand  Remonstrance  was  the  re- 
sult. It  was  a  long  indictment  of  Charles'  conduct 
from  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  exaggerated  doubtless, 
and  untrue  in  many  particulars,  but  none  the  less  repre- 
senting the  history  of  the  past  years  as  it  mirrored  itself 
in  the  minds  of  earnest  Puritans.  The  inference, 
which  no  one  perhaps  had  yet  consciously  drawn,  was 
obviously  that  a  king  who  had  ruled  so  badly  in  the 
past  was  incapable  of  ruling  at  all  in  the  future.  Yet 
there  were  many  in  the  House  who  had  persuaded  them- 
selves that  Charles  had  seen  the  error  of  his  ways,  and 
would  now  rule  better  than  he  had  hitherto  done. 

The  vote  on  the  Grand  Remonstrance  was  strictly  a 
vote  of  want  of  confidence  in  the  king.  The  debate 
was  long  and  stormy.    From  early  morning 

N^ov  20 

g  5.  A  stormy  all  through  the  afternoon  the  torrent  of 
debate.  argument  and  warning  ran  on.    Night  fell, 

and  candles  were  brought.  It  seemed  as  if  at  that  crisis 
of  England's  history  no  man  dared  to  leave  unspoken  the 
word  which  was  burning  on  his  tongue.  At  last,  after 
midnight,  the  division  came.  A  small  majority  of  eleven 
declared  against  the  king.  At  once  a  member  rose  to 
move  that  the  Remonstrance  should  be  printed  ;  in  other 
words,  that  it  should  be  spread  abroad  to  rouse  the 
nation  to  share  the  distrust  of  the  majority  of  the  House 


1 641.  The  Grand  Rejnonstrance,  127 


of  Commons.  The  Moderates  declared  their  resolution 
to  protest  against  such  an  act.  A  protest  was  unprece- 
dented in  the  House  of  Commons.  A  wild  uproar  en- 
sued. Members  snatched  their  swords  from  their  belts, 
and  handled  them  with  significant  gestures.  It  needed 
all  Hampden's  authority  to  obtain  the  postponement  of 
the  discussion. 

Five  days  later  the  king  returned  to  London.  The 
large  minority  in  the  Commons  was  backed  by  an  en- 
thusiastic body  of  supporters  in  the  City. 
Charles  was  feasted  at  Guildhall,  and  the  g  6.  The  king's 
populace  shouted  welcome  in  the  streets. 
On  the  sole  condition  that  he  could  show  himself  worthy 
of  confidence,  the  vote  of  want  of  confidence  would  soon 
be  reversed. 

It  was  the  hardest  condition  of  all.    Charles  restrained 
himself  so  far  as  to  listen  to  the  Remonstrance.    But  he 
gave  no  promise  that  he  would  act  otherwise 
in  the  future  than  he  had  acted  in  the  past,  ^  7.  Receives 
and  his  words  from  time  to  time  gave  reason  gtra^l"^°"" 
to  think  that  he  had  little  idea  of  subsiding 
into  a  subordinate  position.    On  December  14  the  Com- 
mons ordered  the  printing  of  the  Remonstrance,  and  the 
order  was  followed  by  an  answer  from  die  king  speaking 
disdainfully  of  those  ecclesiastical  reforms  which  the 
Puritan  majority  had  most  at  heart. 

The  necessity  of  conciliating  popular  opinion  which 
he  believed  to  be  mistaken  or  corrupt  had  never  been 
understood  by  Charles.    He  was  not  likely 

A.  D.  1642. 

to  learn  the  lesson  now.    He  had  discovered  Januarys, 
a  technical  offence  in  the  leaders  of  the  Op-  mcnt^f  the^" 
position.    Lord  Kimbolton  in  the  Lords;  ^^"^b^^s. 
Pym,  Hampden,  Haselrig,  Holies,  and  Strode  in  the 
Commons,  had  entered  into  communication  with  the 


128       Resistance  iji  Scotla7id  and  E?2gland,  1641. 


Scots  during  the  late  troubles.  Legally  they  were  guilty 
of  treason  in  so  doing,  and  on  January  3  Charles  sent 
his  Attorney-General  to  impeach  them  before  the  House 
of  Lords.  With  its  leaders  safely  lodged  in  the  Tower, 
resistance  on  the  part  of  so  small  a  majority  would  be 
difficult,  if  not  impossible. 

It  has  always  been  held  that  Charles  was  technically 
in  the  wrong  in  his  method  of  procedure.    If  it  was  so, 
his  offence  was  swallowed  up  in  the  greater 
Ip^^Ch^rtes      offence  which  followed.    As  the  Commons 
attempts  to       returned  an  evasive  answer  to  his  demand 

seize  them. 

of  the  immediate  arrest  of  the  members,  he 
resolved  to  seize  them  himself  on  the  morrow.  When 
the  morrow  came  the  queen  had  some  difficulty  in  en- 
couraging her  husband  to  the  task  which  he  had  under- 
taken. **  Go  along,  you  coward,"  she  said,  and  pull 
those  rascals  out  by  the  ears."  Followed  by  a  troop  of 
some  five  hundred  armed  men,  the  king  betook  himself 
to  the  House  of  Commons.  Leaving  his  followers  out- 
side, he  stepped  quickly  up  to  the  Speaker's  chair. 
Standing  in  front  of  it,  he  told  the  House  that  he  had 
come  to  fetch  the  traitors.  In  cases  of  treason  privilege 
of  Parliament  was  no  defence  against  imprisonment. 
Looking  hurriedly  round,  he  was  unable  to  see  any  of 
the  five.  Calling  upon  Lenthall,  the  Speaker,  he  asked 
whether  they  were  there.  Lenthall  knelt  before  him. 
with  all  outward  show  of  reverence.  May  it  please 
your  Majesty,"  he  said,  "  I  have  neither  eyes  to  see  nor 
tongue  to  speak  in  this  place,  but  as  the  House  is  pleased 
to  direct  me."  "  Well,  well !  "  answered  Charles,  "  'tis  no 
matter ;  I  think  my  eyes  are  as  good  as  another's.  " 
Then  again,  after  further  search  had  convinced  him 
that  he  had  come  in  vain,  "  Since  I  see  all  my  birds  are 
flown.  I  do  expect  from  you  that  you  will  send  them  unto 


1642. 


Rupture  tuith  the  King, 


129 


me  as  soon  as  they  return  hither,  otherwise  I  must  take 
my  own  course  to  find  them."  As  he  moved  out  of  the 
House  shouts  of  "Privilege!  privilege  !"  followed  him 
from  every  side. 

Charles  doubtless  imagined  himself  to  be  acting  with- 
in his  rights.    The  men  as  he  believed,  had  not  only 
been  technically  guilty  of  treason,  but  had 
actually  attempted  to  subvert  the  constitu- 
tion  by  placing  the  Commons  above  the 
Crown.    It  is  useless  to  dwell  upon  the  legal  question 
thus  raised.     It  is  enough  to  say  that  Charles*  long 
government  without  any  reference  to  Parliament  had 
made  it  necessary  that  Parliament  should  govern  for  a 
time  without  any  reference  to  him.    It  was  now  evident 
that  Pym  had  judged   Charles  more  truly  than  Falkland. 
He  would  only  yield  to  the  new  order  of  things  as  long 
as  he  was  obliged  to  do  so. 

The  attempt  of  the  king  to  coerce  the  House  of  Com- 
mons by  an  armed  force  struck  deeply  into  the  popular 

imagination.    The  accused  members  had  „     ^,  ^ 

.  ^11.  The  Gom- 

been warned  m  time,  and  had  taken  refuge  mons  in  the 

in  the  City.     The  whole  House  followed, 

and  sat  daily  as  a  Committee  at  Guildhall.    The  City,  a 

few  weeks   before    so  enthusiastic  in  Charles'  favor, 

gathered  now  stoutly  round  the  Commons.    Every  man 

capable  of  bearing  arms  turned  out  in  their  defence.  On 

January  10  the  king  gave  way.    Pie  left  Whitehall,  never 

to  see  it  again  till  the  fatal  day  when  he  was  to  enter  it 

as  a  prisoner.     The  Commons  returned  in  triumph  to 

Westminster. 

The  struggle  for  supremacy  was  now  to  be  put  in  a 
simple  and  intelligible  form.  If  there  was  no  standing 
army  in  England,  there  was  a  militia  com- 

j       r     •  •  IT  •  1    r       J    ?       '^^"^  power 

posed  of  citizen  soldiers  trained  to  defend  ofthemiUua. 


130  The  Dozvnfall  of  Royalty.  1642. 


their  homes.  Hitherto  the  officers  had  been  named 
by  the  king.  The  nomination  was  now  claimed  by 
Parliament.  For  months  argument  was  carried  on 
on  both  sides  with  vigor  and  ingenuity.  But  the  real 
question  was  not  what  was  constitutional,  but  who  was  to 
rule  England.  Neither  side  could  give  way  without  a 
complete  abandonment  of  all  that  it  believed  to  be 
right. 


CHAPTER  VH. 

THE  DOWNFALL  OF  ROYALTY. 

Section  I. —  The  Beginning  of  the  Civil  War, 

The  immediate  strength  and  ultimate  weakness  of  the 
majority  of  the  Commons  lay  in  its  conservatism.  The 
kins^  and  the  bishops  were  rejected  because 

^  I.  Conser- 

vatism.  ot  the  they  were  promoters  of  change,  because  they 
Commons.  -j^^^  attempted  to  impose  by  force  a  form  of 
religion  which  was  distasteful  to  large  classes  of  the 
community.  As  long  as  the  danger  of  a  return  of  the 
Laudian  innovations  was  unremoved,  so  long  there 
would  be  no  place  for  those  reforms  which  men  like 
Falkland  had  at  heart.  "  It  is  far  from  our  purpose  or 
design,"  the  majority  had  declared  in  the  Grand  Re- 
monstrance, "to  let  loose  the  golden  reins  of  discipline 
and  government  in  the  Church,  to  leave  private  persons 
or  particular  .congregations  to  take  up  what  form  of  di- 
vine service  they  please  ;  for  we  hold  it  requisite  that 
there  should  be  throughout  the  whole  realm  a  conformi- 
ty to  that  order  which  the  laws  enjoin  according  to  the 


1642.        The  Beginning  of  the  Civil  War.  131 


Word  of  God  ;  and  we  desire  to  unburthen  the  con- 
sciences of  men  of  needless  and  superstitious  ceremonies, 
suppress  innovations,  and  take  away  the  monuments  of 
idolatry."  For  this  purpose  a  general  synod  was  to  be 
called  of  "  the  most  grave,  pious,  learned,  and  judicious 
divines  of  this  island,  assisted  by  some  from  foreign 
parts,  professing  the  same  religion  with  us."  There  was 
no  word  of  liberty  here,  no  sign  that  the  framers  of  the 
Remonstrance  had  advanced  a  step  since  1629.  What 
change  there  was  to  be  was  simply  in  order  to  avert 
change.  Openness  of  mind  to  new  ideas,  desire  to  re- 
concile conflicting  elements,  were  with  Falkland  and 
not  with  Pym .  For  the  present  such  rare  qualifications 
were  thrown  away  by  Falkland's  association  with 
Charles. 

It  was  not,  in  fact,  upon  the  more  thoughtful  elements 
of  his  party  that,  when  once  it  came  to  war,  Charles 
would  have  to  rely.    The  dashine  cross- 

^  ^  ^2.  Elements 

country  rider,  followed  by  his  grooms  and  of  Charles' 
huntsmen,  would  count  for  more  in  a  cavalry  ^™'^* 
charge  than  all  the  eloquence  of  Falkland  or  all  the 
legal  arguments  of  Hyde.  Nor  was  the  superiority  con- 
fi  '.ed  to  the  field  alone.  The  unreasoning  loyalty  of  the 
man  who  said,  "  If  the  king's  crown  hung  in  a  bush  I 
would  fight  for  it,"  would  blossom  out  into  wiser  counsel 
for  the  immediate  present  than  would  proceed  from  a 
statesman  who  had  reason  to  distrust  the  projects  of  the 
king,  though  he  had  resolved,  from  very  mingled  motives, 
to  support  him.  Sir  Edmund  Verney's  may  have  been 
an  extreme  case.  But  he  surely  did  not  stand  entirely 
alone.  "You,"  he  said  to  Hyde,  "have  satisfaction  in 
your  conscience  that  you  are  in  the  right,  that  the  king 
ought  not  to  grant  what  is  required  of  him  ;  and  so  you 
do  your  duty  and  business  together.    But,  for  my  part, 


The  Downfall  of  Royalty, 


1642. 


I  do  not  like  the  quarrel,  and  do  heartily  wish  that  the 
king  would  yield,  and  consent  to  what  they  desire,  so 
that  my  conscience  is  only  concerned  in  honor  and 
gratitude  to  follow  my  master.  I  have  eaten  his  bread 
and  served  him  near  thirty  years,  and  will  not  do  so 
base  a  thing  as  to  forsake  him,  and  choose  rather  to 
lose  my  life — which  I  am  sure  I  shall  do — to  pre- 
serve and  defend  those  things  which  are  against  my 
conscience  to  preserve  and  defend ;  for  I  will  deal  freely 
with  you — I  have  no  reverence  for  bishops,  for  whom 
this  quarrel  subsists." 

The  conservatism  which  loves  to  preserve  ancient 
institutions  was  arrayed  against  the  conservatism  which 
loves  to  preserve  spiritual  and  mental  beliefs. 

August  22. 

3.  The  war  On  August  22  the  king's  standard  was  set 
up  at  Nottingham  to  summon  all  loyal  sub- 
jects to  his  aid  against  a  rebellious  Parliament.  A  de- 
cided majority  of  the  Lords,  and  a  large  minority  of  the 
Commons  answered  to  his  call.  The  civil  war  had 
begun. 

No  exact  line  of  demarcation  can  be  drawn  between 
the  portions  of  England  which  supported  the  two  causes. 

But  with  an  uncertain  region  between,  the 
I  4  Cnoosing     north-west  of  Ene^land — in  the  days  when 

sides. 

coal  and  iron  combined  formed  no  portion 
of  the  national  wealth,  the  rudest  and  least  thickly  popu- 
lated part  of  the  country — took  the  king's  side,  whilst 
the  south-east,  with  its  fertile  land,  its  commercial  and 
manufacturing  activity,  and  its  superabundant  wealth, 
was  on  the  side  of  the  Parliament 

Parliament  appointed  the  Earl  of  Essex  as  its  com- 
mander-in-chief. A  steady,  honorable,  sober-minded 
man,  without  a  spark  of  genius,  he  would  hardly  be 
likely  to  know  what  to  do  with  a  victory,  even  if  he 


1642. 


The  Beginning  of  the  Civil  War, 


133 


got  one.  On  September  22  the  first  skirmish  Qctober23 
was  fought  at  Powick  Bridcre.    The  king's     1 5.  Edge- 

r  1  ^  T_  A  ^ill  battle. 

troops  were  successiul,  and  he  pusnecl  on 

for  the  south,  hoping  to  keep  Christmas  at  Whitehall. 

At  Edgehill  the  way  was  barred  against  him  by  Essex. 
On  October  23  the  first  battle  was  fought,  with  no  de- 
cisive results.  Prince  Rupert,  the  dashing  horseman, 
the  son  of  Elizabeth  and  the  Elector  Palatine,  drove 
all  resistance  before  him  with  his  cavalry.  But  the 
royafist  infantry  could  not  stand  against  the  foot  of  the 
Parliament,  and  Rupert  returned  from  headlong  pursuit, 
too  late  to  secure  a  victory.  The  fruits  of  victory  were 
on  the  side  of  the  king.  The  cautious  Essex  retreated 
slowly,  Charles  following  closely  at  his  heels.  On  the 
morning  of  November  12  the  king  was  at  Brentford. 

London  was  in  imminent  danger.    But  London  had 
her  heart  in  the  great  contest.    The  trained  bands  turned 
out  to  a  man,  and  marched  with  firm  step  to 
Turnham  Green.    Skippon,  a  veteran  from       ^6.  The 
the  German  wars,  took  the  command  of  the       of  London 
City  forces.     "  Come,  my  brave  boys,"  he 
said,  as  he  rode  amongst  them,  **  let  us  pray  heartily  and 
fight  heartily ;  remember  the  cause  is  for  God  and  for  the 
defence  of  yourselves,  your  wives,  and  children."  All 
day  long  on  the  13th  the  two  armies  stood  facing  one 
another.  At  last  the  king  blenched  and  ordered  a  retreat. 
He  was  never  to  have  such  another  chance  again. 

No  genius  had  as  yet  been  displayed  on  the  parlia- 
mentary side.    But  there  was  one  man,  the  member 
for  Cambridge,  who  was  there  to  supply  the 
need.    Oliver  Cromwell  had  lived  for  many  ?  7-  CromweM'^< 

character. 

years   in  the   strictest  school   of  Puritan 

morality.    To  him  the  forms  and  ceremonies  of  the 

Church  had  come  to  be  an  abomination  since  the  Laudian 


134  '^^^  Downfall  of  Royalty,  1643. 


system  had  been  enforced.  He  saw  in  them  nothing  but 
a  human  device  set  up  as  a  wall  of  separation  between 
him  and  heaven.  To  him  God  stood  revealed  in  the 
Bible,  and  in  the  words  of  Christian  men  which  were 
founded  on  the  Bible.  His  special  moral  characteristic 
was  an  intense  love  of  justice  to  the  poor  and  the  op- 
pressed. If  ever  he  is  heard  of  in  those  years  in  which 
Puritan  voices  were  mostly  silent,  it  is  in  some  effort  to 
redress  wrongs  suffered  by  the  weak.  Into  the  work  of 
the  Long  Parliament,  when  it  met,  he  threw  himself 
heart  and  soul.  He  was  not  a  man  to  be  led  away  by 
subtle  distinctions  or  broad  philosophical  views  of  an 
ideal  state  of  things  which  might  possibly  be  desirable 
in  some  other  century  or  in  some  other  land  than  that 
in  which  his  lot  was  cast.  All  the  iron  force  of  his  will 
was  directed  to  the  attainment  of  the  one  thing  imme- 
diately needed,  and  he  knew,  what  Falkland  did  not 
know,  that  that  one  thing  was  to  deliver  England  from 
the  king  and  such  bishops  as  Charles  had  appointed 
formerly,  and  was  likely,  if  he  regained  power,  to  appoint 
again.  If  Cromwell's  aims  were  all  within  compass,  no 
man  had  a  clearer  insight  into  the  conditions  under 
which  those  aims  were  to  be  attained ;  no  man  a  more 
practical  mind  in  the  avoidance  of  routine  and  the  choice 
of  fit  instruments  for  his  work. 

Cromwell  at  once  detected  the  weak  point  in  the  par- 
liamentary army.       Your  troops,"  he  said  to  Hampden, 
"  are  most  of  them  old  decayed  serving  men, 
§8  His  advice         tapstcrs,  and  such  kind  of  fellows,  and 

to  Hampden.  ^ 

their  troops  are  gentlemen's  sons,  younger 
sons,  and  persons  of  quality  ;  do  you  think  that  the 
spirits  of  such  base  and  mean  fellows  will  ever  be  able 
to  encounter  gentlemen,  that  have  honor  and  courage 
and  resolution  in  them  ?    You  must  get  men  of  a  spirit, 


1643. 


The  Beginning  of  the  Civil  War. 


and  take  it  not  ill  what  I  say — I  know  you  will  not — of  a 
spirit  that  is  likely  to  go  on  as  far  as  gentlemen  will  go ; 
or  else  you  will  be  beaten  still."  Hampden  shook  his 
head,  thought  the  notion  good,  but  impracticable.  At 
all  events,  it  was  the  very  essence  of  Puritanism.  Milton 
held  that  the  highest  beauty  of  woman  was  the  outward 
expression  of  the  pure  spirit  within.  Cromwell  held  that 
the  highest  bravery  of  man  was  the  outward  expression 
of  a  spirit  set  upon  high  and  holy  things. 

Undeterred  by  Hampden's   doubts,  Cromwell  pro- 
ceeded to  put  his  idea  into  execution.  First 
as  captain  of  a  troop,  then  as  colonel  of  a  ?9- CromweiFs 

^  regiment. 

regiment,  he  refused  to  be  served  except  by 

men  whose  heart  was  in  the  cause.    But  they  must  be 

men  who  were  also  ready  to  submit  to  discipline.  He 

was  soon  master  of  the  best  soldiers  in  either  army. 

*'My  troops,"  he  wrote,  "increase.     I  have  a  lovely 

company.     You  would  respect  them  did  you  know 

them." 

Through  1643  dragged  on  without  any  decisive 

success  on  either  side.  The  king  took  up  his  head- 
quarters at  Oxford.    He  lost  Reading,  but 

his  troops  gained  a  success  at  Roundway  ?  ip- Thecam- 
^      °  paignoii043, 

Down,  and  before  July  the  great  city  of 
Bristol  was  in  his  power.  Devonshire,  Somersetshire, 
Dorsetshire,  Wiltshire,  and  the  north  of  Hampshire,  fell 
almost  completely  into  his  hands.  Already  Hampden 
had  been  slain  by  a  chance  shot  in  an  obscure  skirmish. 
The  royalists,  full  of  hope,  laid  siege  to  Gloucester,  that 
they  might  no  longer  have  the  enemy  established  in  their 
rear.  At  Westminster  there  was  doubt  and  hesitation. 
It  was  only  through  stress  put  upon  Parliament  by  a 
City  mob  that  both  Houses  were  prevented  from  agree- 
ing to  terms  of  peace  which  would  have  carried  with 


136  The  Downfall  of  Royalty.  1643. 


them  an  abandonment  of  their  main  pretensions.  If 
Gloucester  had  fallen,  in  all  probability  the  civil  war 
would  have  come  to  an  end.  But  Essex  marched  boldly 
to  its  relief,  and  Charles  broke  up  the  siege.  On  Essex' 
return  he  found  the  royal  army  drawn  up  at  Newbury  to 
bar  the  way.  But  the  battle,  the  first  battle  of  Newbury 
as  it  was  called,  was  again  indecisive,  and  Essex  was 
glad  to  be  allowed  to  continue  his  march.  But  if  Glou- 
cester was  saved,  and  Essex  was  undefeated,  royalism 
was  gaining  ground  in  many  other  parts  of  the  king- 
dom. 

The  battle  of  Newbury,  unimportant  in  other  respects, 
was  rendered  memorable  by  the  death  of  Falkland.  He 

had  long  been  weary  of  the  war,  weary 
l^aikiSfd^^       above  all  of  the  uncongenial  persons  with 

whom  he  was  obliged  to  act,  and  of  the  evil 
counsels  which  prevailed  too  often  with  Charles.  His 
natural  cheerfulness  and  vivacity  grew  clouded,  and  a 
kind  of  sadness  and  dejection  of  spirit  stole  upon  him 
which  he  had  never  been  used  to."  His  bodily  health 
wasted  away.  He  would  go  about  murmuring  Peace  ! 
peace  !'*  Weary  of  life,  and  fearing  lest  the  rough 
swordsmen  around  him  would  fancy  that  his  love  of 
peace  implied  a  want  of  personal  bravery,  he  exposea 
himself  recklessly  to  every  hazard.  At  Newbury  he 
went  cheerfully  into  action,  and  fell  mortally  wounded. 
His  wise,  beautiful  soul  was  no  longer  to  lift  up  its  warn- 
ings on  earth  against  evil  to  come.  The  distant  future 
was  his,  the  future  of  compromise  and  moderation.  The 
present  was  Pym's  and  Cromwell's. 

Section  H. — Presbyteriaiis  and  Lidepe7ide7its, 

Already,  on  July  i,  the  synod  known  as  the  West- 
minster Assembly  had  commenced  its  sittings.  Against 


l643-         Presbyterians  and  Independents.  X37 


the  Laudian  idea  of  uniformity  of  ceremony 
was  to  be  set  the  Puritan  idea  of  unity  of 
belief.    And  though  the  Assembly  would  ^^^f.'^bty.'^ 
have  enough  to  do  with  the  discussion  of 
theological  dogmas  for  some  time  to  come,  there  was  a 
good  practical  reason  why  Parhament  should  understand 
unity  of  doctrine  to  mean  unity  of  discipline  as  well,  and 
why  that  discipline  should  be  the  discipline  of  Presby- 
terianism. 

Things  were  not  going  well  with  the  army,  and  the 
help  of  the  Scots  was  much  desired.  But  it  was  well 
known  that  the  Scots  would  give  no  help 
unless  England  was  Presbyterian,  and  the  f^^^ti^e^gcots  °" 
House  of  Commons  felt  itself  inspired  with 
some  alacrity  to  declare  England  Presbyterian.  Not 
that  in  so  doing  they  were  acting  against  their  consciences. 
If  England  was  not  to  be  Episcopal,  it  could  hardly  as 
yet  be  anything  but  Presbyterian.  The  complaint 
against  the  bishops  had  been  that  they  interfered  with 
the  parish  clergy.  It  was  only  natural  to  try  the  experi- 
ment of  leaving  the  parish  clergy  to  organize  themselves 
in  order  that  they  might  manage  the  church  in  their  own 
way.  If  there  was  any  difficulty  at  all,  it  was  because, 
true  to  English  traditions,  the  Commons  wished  to  main- 
tain the  supremacy  of  the  lay  power  over  the  clerical, 
whilst  the  Scots  held  that  the  clerical  power  was  subject 
to  no  superior  on  earth.  Further,  there  was  a  small 
element,  both  in  the  Assembly  and  in  Parliament,  which 
was  unwilling  to  bind  England  for  ever  to  a  complete 
agreement  with  Scotland. 

The  Scots,  however,  were  immovable.    No  Presbyte- 
rianism,  no  Scottish  army.    In  September  the  Solemn 
League  and  Covenant  was  signed  by  the 
members  of  Parliament,  binding  them  to  Covenant 


138 


21ie  Downfall  of  Royalty. 


1643. 


endeavor  to  bring  the  religion  of  England,  Scot- 
land, and  Ireland  to  as  much  conformity  as  possible, 
and  to  reform  reUgion  "  according  to  the  word  of  God, 
and  the  example  of  the  best  reformed  churches."  The 
phrase  "  according  to  the  word  of  God*'  is  said  to  have 
been  added  at  the  suggestion  of  Sir  Henry  Vane,  always 
anxious  to  preserve  intellectual  liberty,  and  who  wished 
to  be  able  to  find  in  it  a  loop-hole,  if  at  any  time  he  might 
be  inclined  to  argue  that  any  particular  Scotch  proposi- 
tion was  not  in  accordance  with  the  word  of  God.  In 
this  form,  the  Covenant  was  offered  on  every  side  as  a 
test  of  fidelity  to  the  parliamentary  cause.  Wherever 
the  power  of  Parliament  could  reach,  all  signs  of  the 
Laudian  ceremonies  which  yet  remained  were  driven 
from  the  face  of  the  earth.  Charing  Cross  and  the  Cross 
at  Cheapside  were  torn  down.  Superstitious  images, 
crucifixes,  and  altars  were  taken  away.  Many  a  painted 
window  rich  with  the  glories  of  medieval  art,  many  a 
quaint  device  and  monument  of  earlier  piety,  paid  the 
penalty  for  Laud's  attempt  to  force  the  observance  of 
acts  of  outward  reverence  upon  unwilling  minds.  Human 
opposition  was  not  to  be  suffered  to  maintain  itself  when 
the  tacit  protest  of  glass  and  stone  had  been  overruled, 
and  the  Earl  of  Manchester  (the  Lord  Kimbolton  who 
had  been  accused  in  company  with  the  five  members) 
was  sent  to  Cambridge  to  drive  out  all  who  refused  the 
Covenant.  There  were  to  be  no  diversities  of  opinion  at 
that  seat  of  learning.  Oxford  was  as  yet  beyond  the  reach 
of  Parliament. 

The  guidance  of  the  House  of  Commons  had  hither- 
to been  in  the  hands  of  Pym.    It  would  be  hard  to  find 
^  in  the  course  of  English  history  another 

1^4.  Death  of    man  so  fitted  to  this  special  task.    A  conscr- 
vative  by  nature,  and  instinctively  opposed 


1 643-         Presbyterians  and  Independents.  139 


to  the  reception  of  new  and  unaccustomed  ideas,  he  was 
the  very  man  to  head  a  revolutionary  movement  of  which 
the  object  was  to  preserve  as  much  as  possible  of  the 
existing  system  in  Church  and  State.  To  that  task  he 
brought  untiring  energy,  great  capacity  for  business 
and  knowledge  of  finance,  combined  with  a  delicate  tact 
which  enabled  him  to  guide  a  large  and  fluctuating  body 
of  men.  The  time  had  now  come  when  the  words  of 
King  Pym,  as  men  called  him  admiringly  or  in  derision, 
were  no  longer  to  be  heard  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
On  December  6  he  died,  worn  out  by  the  labors  which 
he  had  undergone.  The  league  with  Scotland  was  his 
last  work.  He  did  not  live  to  see  the  northern  army 
cross  the  border,  but  he  had  done  all  in  his  power  to 
facilitate  its  arrival. 

A  few  weeks  after  Pym's  death  Laud  fell  a  sacrifice  to 
the  league  with  Scotland.    Dragged  from  his  prison,  in 
which  he  had  lain  forgotten  so  long,  the  old  a.  d.  1644. 
man  defended  himself  with  coolness  and  J^^^^^y 

j>  5.  jbxecution 

ability.  He  was  as  incapable  now  as  ever  of  of" Laud, 
understanding  the  meaning  of  the  opposition  which  he 
had  roused,  and  of  the  anger  to  which  he  fell  a  victim. 
On  January  10  he  was  executed,  as  Strafford  had  been 
executed  before  him. 

It  is  not  likely  that  Pym  would  have  retained  his 
authority  if  he  had  lived  many  years  longer.  In  the 
Assembly  itself  a  small  minority  of  five  raised  its  voice 
against  the  dominant  Presbyterianism.  ^  ^  ^ 
Many  of  the  exiles  to  New  England  had  lians  and  In- 
come back  in  hope  of  better  days,  and  had  ^^^p^^^^'^'^- 
spread  the  doctrines  of  the  Separatists,  or  Independents 
as  they  now  were  called.  In  reality,  it  was  the  reluctance 
to  submit  to  the  iron  rule  of  clerical  orthodoxy  which 
was  at  the  bottom  of  the  movement.  Each  congregation 


140  The  Downfall  of  Royalty,  1644. 


was  to  be  independent  of  every  other  congregation, 
capable  of  forming  its  own  conclusions,  with  which  no 
earthly  power  was  to  be  permitted  to  interfere.  Such  a 
notion  was  regarded  with  simple  horror  by  the  common- 
place Presbyterian,  to  whom  unity  of  doctrine  had  been 
so  long  the  cherished  medicine  for  every  ill  which  beset 
the  land.  Were  men  to  arise  from  the  very  bosom  of 
Puritanism  to  introduce  innovations,  distractions,  wild 
fanaticisms  ?  Was  every  man  to  have  a  religion  to  him- 
self? Nor  was  the  danger  purely  theoretical.  Baptist 
opinions,  shocking  to  the  orthodox  mind,  were  spreading. 
Antinomianism,  too,  was  beginning  to  be  heard  of,  denying 
that  Christians  had  any  need  to  trouble  themselves  about 
the  fulfillment  of  the  moral  law.  Others,  as  a  Scotch 
Presbyterian  rather  incoherently  said,  taught  things 
worse  than  that ;  "  the  mortality  of  the  soul,  the  denial  of 
angels  and  devils  ;  and  cast  off  sacraments  ;  and  many 
blasphemous  things." 

If  the  sects  were  dangerous,  the  Presbyterians  were  in- 
tolerably vexatious.    Take  such  a  scene  as  that  which 
took  place  at  Chillingworth's  death.  Like 

January. 

%-].  Death  of  Falkland,  he  had  taken  refuge  in  the  king's 
ChiUingworth.  ^^^^p  ^^.^^x  than  submit  to  Puritan  domina- 
tion. He  was  captured  at  Arundel  by  the  parliamentary 
forces,  but  was  too  ill  to  be  carried  to  London.  As  he 
lay  sick  at  Chichester  he  was  visited  by  Francis  Chey- 
nell,  a  member  of  the  Westminster  Assembly,  a  "  rigid, 
zealous  Presbyterian,  exactly  orthodox,  very  unwilling 
that  any  should  be  suffered  to  go  to  heaven  but  in  the 
right  way."  Cheynell  gave  the  dying  man  no  rest.  He 
plied  him  wjth  questions  about  his  opinions.  He  re- 
membered, as  he  himself  tells  us,  the  words  of  the 
Apostle,  Rebuke  them  sharply,  that  they  may  be  sound 
in  the  faith."    Chillingworth's  charity  was  a  sore  stumb- 


1 644-        Presbyterians  and  Independents.  141 


ling-block  to  him.  "I  desired  him,"  he  says,  "to  tell 
me  whether  he  conceived  that  a  man,  living  or  dying  a 
Turk,  Baptist,  or  Socinian,  could  be  saved  ?  All  the 
answer  I  could  gain  from  him  was,  that  he  did  not  ab- 
solve them  and  would  not  condemn."  Cheynell  could 
not  endure  such  lukewarmness  as  this.  "  Sir,"  he  said, 
"  It  is  confessed  that  you  have  been  very  excessive  in 
your  charity.  You  have  lavished  so  much  charity  upon 
Turks,  Socinians,  Baptists,  that  I  am  afraid  you  have 
very  little  to  spare  for  a  truly  reformed  Protestant."  In 
January  1644  the  soul  of  the  great  latitudinarian  passed 
away  into  that  peace  under  the  bright  rays  of  which  he 
had  lived  upon  earth.  It  was  only  with  difficulty  that  he 
was  allowed  a  burial  under  the  shadow  of  Chichester 
Cathedral.  Cheynell  attended  the  funeral,  but  only  that 
he  might  throw  into  the  open  grave  that  book,  "The 
Religion  of  Protestants,"  which  is  Chillingworth's  chief 
title  to  the  admiration  of  later  generations.  "  If  they 
please,"  so  Cheynell  tells  the  story  of  his  insolence,  "to 
undertake  the  burial  of  his  corpse,  I  shall  undertake  to 
bury  his  errors,  which  are  published  in  this  so  much  ad- 
mired yet  unworthy  book  ;  and  happy  would  it  be  for  the 
kingdom  if  this  book  and  all  its  fellows  could  be  so 
buried.  Get  thee  gone,  thou  cursed  book,  which  hast 
seduced  so  many  precious  souls  !  Get  thee  gone,  thou 
corrupt  rotten  book  !  Earth  to  earth,  and  dust  to  dust ! 
Get  thee  out  into  this  place  of  rottenness,  that  thou 
mayest  rot  with  the  author,  and  see  corruption  !  " 

The  tolerance  of  theological  errors  which  did  not 
threaten  the  bond  of  external 'unity  was  not  entirely  a 
new  doctrine  in  England.  Proclaimed  by  Sir  Thomas 
More  and  the  men  of  the  new  learning  in 
the  early  days  before  the  Reformation  if  co^sVience, 
struggle  grew  warm,  it  found  a  place  in  all 


142 


The  Downfall  of  Royalty, 


1644. 


the  highest  writings  of  the  opponents  of  Calvinistic  Puri- 
tanism. A  sense  of  the  insufficiency  of  men  to  penetrate 
Divine  mysteries  sheds  a  warm  glow  of  charity  over  the 
pages  of  the  wise  Hooker,  and  even  Laud  was  animated 
by  a  sense  of  the  impossibihty  of  expressing  the  highest 
religious  truths  by  verbal  definitions.  Still  more  lately 
the  wider  culture  and  deeper  knowledge  of  Chillingworth 
and  Hales  had  leant  still  further  to  the  side  of  tolerance. 
But  the  doctrine  of  liberty  of  conscience  now  professed 
approached  the  great  problem  of  the  day  from  another 
side.  Chillingworth  had  never  contemplated  the  disrup- 
tion of  the  Church  into  minute  fragments  ;  he  thought  it 
possible,  as  Sir  Thomas  More  thought  it  possible,  that 
men  might  join  together  in  public  worship  whilst  freely 
pursuing  independent  trains  of  thought.  The  new 
thinkers  threw  off  the  outward  forms  of  unity  as  well  as 
the  inward  agreement  and  were  content  if  men  were 
striving  to  reach  a  common  end  through  different 
methods. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  ordinary  Puritanism  took  alarm. 
And  yet  this  new  doctrine,  hateful  as  it  seemed,  was  the 
one  thing  needful.    Parliamentary  supre- 
?  9-  Liberty      macv  Seemed  likely  to  end  in  the  rule  of 

01  speech. 

political  commonplace.  Presbyterian  supre- 
macy seemed  likely  to  end  in  the  rule  of  ecclesiastical 
commonplace.  Government  by  king  and  council  had 
at  least  been  a  testimony  to  the  need  of  special  know- 
ledge and  ability  for  the  guidance  of  State  affairs.  Gov- 
ernment by  bishops  had  at  least  been  a  testimony  to  the 
need  of  special  knowledge  and  ability  for  the  guidance 
of  ecclesiastical  affairs.  If  there  was  to  be  no  freedom 
of  speech  for  the  prfess  or  in  the  pulpit,  Church  and  State 
would  soon  sink  to  the  dull  level  of  existing  popular 
opinion.    In  proscribing  the  new  thoughts  which  were 


1 644-  Marsto7t  Moor  a7id  JSFaseby. 


143 


to  be  the  life-blood  of  the  coming  generation  would  be 
proscribed  as  well.  The  wheat  would  be  rooted  out  with 
the  tares. 

Section  III. — Marsto7i  Moor  and  Naseby. 

Parliament  would  have  had  little  reason  for  immediate 
anxiety  about  the  progress  of  ideas  so  new  to  the  English 
people  if  they  had  not  found  a  congenial 
home  in  that  part  of  the  army  which  was  deiicy^fn^he" 
underCromwell'sinfluence.  An  independent,  ^^"^y- 
in  the  sectarian  sense  of  the  word,  Cromwell  never  was. 
But  he  was  too  fully  inspired  with  the  higher  spirituallife 
of  Puritanism  to  feel  otherwise  than  indignant  at  any 
attempt  to  tie  men  down  to  fixed  opinions.    And  though 
he  was  as  yet  far  from  occupying  any  very  considerable 
place  in  the  conduct  of  the  war,  he  was  slowly  but 
steadily  rising  in  men's  opinions. 

In  1643  that  part  of  England  where  Cromwell  was 
had  alone  been  the  scene  of  a  decided  parliamentary 
success.  The  Eastern  Association,  in  which 
Norfolk,  Suffolk,  Essex,  Cambridge,  Hert-  ^2X:romwell's 
fordshire,  and  Huntingdonshire  had  bound  p^os^^^^- 
themselves  together  for  mutual  defence,  was  placed  in 
August  1643  under  Manchester's  command.  But  Crom- 
well was  the  leading  spirit  of  the  forces  thus  raised,  and 
not  only  had  he  thoroughly  put  down  royalism  within 
the  district,  but  he  had  invaded  Lincolnshire,  beat  the 
royalists  at  Winceby  on  October  11,  and  forced  the 
Marquis  of  Newcastle,  Charles's  commander  in  the 
North,  to  raise  the  siege  of  Hull.  If  he;  had  a  chance  of 
support,  he  would  be  ready,  when  the  next  campaign 
opened,  to  attack  the  royalists  in  Yorkshire. 

It  was  not  an  easy  task.  Newcastle  had  almost  suc- 
ceeded in  establishing  his  domination   over  all  the 


144 


The  Downfall  of  Royalty, 


i6h- 


northern  counties.  Fairfax,  a  gallant, 
\  3.  Fairfax      honorable  man,  a  eood  horseman,  with  a 

in  \  orkshire.  '        ^  ' 

huntsman's  eye  for  country,  had  struggled 
on  in  defence  of  the  clothing  towns  of  Yorkshire.  But 
he  had  been  forced  to  give  ground,  and  he  wanted  more 
help  than  Manchester  and  Cromwell  could  give. 

That  help  was  at  hand.    The  League  and  Covenant 
had  been  duly  signed.    A  new  authority,  composed  of 
Englishmen   and   Scotchmen,   had  been 
evoked  under  the  name  of  the  Committee 
the  border^      of  both  kingdoms,  to  take  the  guidance  of 
the  war.    The   Scotch  army,   under  the 
command  of  Alexander  Leslie,  Earl  of  Leven,  crossed 
the  border.    In  June  Leven  joined  Manchester  and 
Fairfax,  and  was  laying  siege  to  the  Marquis  of  New- 
castle at  York. 

At  the  head  of  18,000  men,  the  fiery  Rupert  hurried 
to  Newcastle's  aid,  and  the  assailants  were  compelled 
,  ,  to  raise  the  siege.    But  Rupert,  bold  and 

July  2,  «-»  X 

^  5.  Marston  dashing  in  fight,  thought  little  of  a  bloodless 
^  success,  and  hurried  Newcastle,  half  against 

his  will,  to  a  decisive  battle.  At  Marston  Moor  the 
Scots  gave  way  before  the  charge  of  the  royalist  cavalry. 
But  Cromwell  restored  the  fight.  "  It  had  all  the  evi- 
dence," he  wrote,  of  an  absolute  victory,  obtained  by 
the  Lord's  blessing  upon  the  godly  party  principally. 
We  never  charged  but  we  routed  the  enemy.  God  made 
them  as  stubble  to  our  swords." 

The  North  of  England  was  at  last  in  the  hands  of 
the  parhamentary  commanders.     But  Marston  Moor 
had  not  been  a  Presbyterian  victory.  Crom- 
forthe^  well's  Ironsides,  as  they  were  well  termed, 

Independents.  decided  the  fight.    Such  a  result  was 

not  likely  to  be  favorable  to  the  views  of  the  dominant 


1644. 


Marsion  Moor  and  Naseby. 


145 


party  at  Westminster.  A  few  months  before,  a  complaint 
had  beeii  brought  to  Cromwell  that  one  of  his  officers 
was  an  Anabaptist.  "Admit  he  be,"  was  the  sturdy 
reply,  "  shall  that  render  him  incapable  to  serve  the 
public  ?  Take  heed  of  being  too  sharp,  or  too  easily 
sharpened  by  others,  against  those  to  whom  you  can 
object  httle  but  that  they  square  not  with  you  in  every 
opinion  concerning  matters  of  religion." 

It  was  not  only  at  Marston  Moor  that  Presbyterian 
ascendency  was  threatened.  Essex,  the  chosen  parlia- 
mentarv  general,  had  marched  westward  „ 

'  ,  1-  /-  -r^  '        1  ^  ^7.  Capitula- 

agamst  the  royalists  of  Devon  and  Corn-  tioncf  Essex' 
wall.    Charles  in  person  followed  him  with 
a  superior  force.     Essex  was  surrounded.    With  his 
cavalry  he  cut  his  way  through  to  safety ;  but  his  foot 
was  reduced  to  capitulate. 

The  religious  question  of  toleration  or  no  toleration 
was  naturally  connected  with  a  political  question  about 
the  mode  in  which  the  war  was  to  be  con- 
ducted.  Conservative  Puritanism  was  lone-  t^e  war  to  be 
ing  to  obtain  the  king's  assent  to  complete 
its  organization  under  Presbyterian  form.  Those  who 
were  startled  by  the  ncw^  idea  of  liberty  of  conscience 
were  also  startled  by  the  new  idea  of  doing  without  the 
king.  They  did  not  want  to  beat  the  king  too  much, 
and  Cromwell,  who  had  asserted  that  if  he  met  the  king 
in  battle  he  would  shoot  him  as  soon  as  any  other  man, 
was  regarded  by  them  with  horror.  What  they  wanted 
was  the  old  constitution  as  Eliot  had  understood  it,  in 
times  when  Ehot,  if  he  had  been  still  alive,  would  have 
been  of  a  very  different  opinion.  A  new  and  untried 
state  of  things  inspired  them  with  terror. 

The  quarrel  came  to  a  head  in  Manchester's  army. 
As  he  marched  southwards,  Cromwell  charged  him  with 


146  TJie  Downfall  of  Royalty.  1644. 


neglecting  his  opportunities.  He  was  an 
§  9  Manchester   affable,  g-ood-natured  man,  much  out  of 

and  Cromwell.  '    o  » 

place  at  the  head  of  an  army,  and  there 
was  doubtless  more  of  constitutional  indolence  in  his 
mistakes  than  any  deliberate  intention  to  spare  the 
enemy.  To  Cromwell,  restless  and  energetic,  prompt  in 
action  as  in  counsel,  his  superior  officer's  sluggishness 
seemed  nothing  less  than  treason  to  the  cause.  The 
dispute  came  to  a  head  after  the  second  battle  of  New- 
bury, fought  on  October  27,  after  which  Manchester  re- 
frained from  pushing  home  the  advantage  which  he  had 
gained.  Cromwell  brought  the  delinquencies  of  the 
general  publicly  before  Parliament. 

Cromwell  had,  however,  no  wish  to  bear  hardly  upon 
Manchester.  He  was  indignant  with  the  system  not 
with  the  man.  He  soon  substituted  for  the  impeach- 
A.  D.  1645.  ment  of  Manchester  a  Self-denying  Ordi- 
denyhig''(>di  ^^^^ice  by  which  every  member  of  either 
nance  and  th^  Housc  was  declared  incapable  of  military 

establishment  .  - 

of  Presbyteri*  Command.  As  a  satisfaction  to  the  Presby- 
anism.  tcrians  their  system  of  church  government 

was  declared  universal  in  England,  though  the  Inde- 
pendents reserved  to  themselves  the  right  of  proposing 
some  modification  which  should  provide  liberty  of  con- 
science for  Dissenters. 

Cromwell's  voice  on  behalf  of  liberty  found  an  echo. 
To  Cromwell  liberty  was  chiefly  valuable  because  it  gave 
full  play  for  the  righteousness  and  moral 
\ire]fagllicl,    ^'^^^^^  Milton  it  was  chiefly 

valuable  because  it  gave  full  play  to  the 
intellectual  vigor  of  men.  He  had  been  writing  books 
which  had  been  condemned  by  the  official  censors  of  the 
press.  In  the  Areopagitica  he  raises  his  contention  far 
above  the  region  of  personal  dispute.    With  somewhat 


1 644.  Marston  Moor  and  Naseby,  1 47 


of  disdain  for  those  who  are  weaker  than  himself,  he  calls 
upon  all  men  to  prove  all  things."  "  He  that  can  ap- 
prehend," he  says,  ''and  consider  vice  with  all  her  baits 
and  seeming  pleasures,  and  yet  abstain  .  .  he  is  the  true 
war-faring  Christian.  I  cannot  praise  a  fugitive  and 
cloistered  virtue,  unexercised  and  unbreathed,  that  never 
sallies  out  and  seeks  her  adversary,  but  slinks  out  of  the 
race,  where  that  immortal  garland  is  to  be  run  for,  not 
without  dust  and  heat."  Excellence  rested  in  the  strug- 
gle which  is  the  law  of  hfe,  not  in  the  self-satisfied  con- 
templation of  already  achieved  attainments.  "  Behold, 
now,"  cried  Milton,  "this  vast  city,  a  city  of  refuge,  the 
mansion-house  of  liberty,  encompassed  with  God's  pro- 
tection ;  the  shop  of  war  hath  not  there  more  anvils  and 
hammers  working,  to  fashion  out  the  plates  and  instru- 
ments of  armed  justice  in  defence  of  beleaguered  truth, 
than  there  be  pens  and  heads  there,  sitting  by  their 
studious  lamps,  musing,  searching,  revolving  new  notions 
and  ideas  wherewith  to  present  us,  as  with  their  homage 
and  fealty,  the  approaching  reformation ;  others  as  fast 
reading,  trying  all  things,  assenting  to  the  force  of  reason 
and  convinceraent."  There  need  be  no  fear  that  liberty 
would  give  birth  to  anarchy.  "  These  are  the  men  cried 
out  against  for  schismatics  and  sectaries,  as  if,  while  the 
temple  of  the  Lord  was  building  .  ,  .  there  should  be  a 
sort  of  irrational  men  who  could  not  consider  there  must 
be  many  schisms  and  many  dissections  made  in  the 
quarry  and  in  the  timber  ere  the  house  of  God  can  be 
built.  And  when  every  stone  is  laid  artfully  together  it 
cannot  be  united  into  a  continuity,  it  can  but  be  contigu- 
ous in  the  world  :  neither  can  every  piece  of  the  building 
be  of  one  form  ;  nay,  rather  the  perfection  consists  in 
this,  that  out  of  many  moderate  varieties  and  brotherly 
dissimilitudes  that  are  not  vastly  disproportional,  arises 


i4o  The  Downfall  of  Royalty.  1644. 


the  goodly  and  the  graceful  symmetry  that  commends 
the  whole  pile  and  structure." 

There  spoke  the  spirit  of  the  new  epoch.    The  theory 
of  enforced  orthodoxy  which  Laud  had  attempted  to  meet 
by  his  external  uniformity  received  here  its 

A.  D.  1644. 

1 12.  The         fitting  answer.    Whether  or  not  such  prin- 

New  Model.         .    ,  ,  •     4.1,       ^  ^ 

ciples  were  to  prosper  m  the  state,  they  were 
soon  to  be  put  to  the  test  in  the  field.  The  reorganized 
army, — the  New  Model,  as  it  was  called — was  formed 
after  the  fashion  of  Cromwell's  Ironsides.  Men  with  a 
spirit  in  them  who  were  ready  to  submit  to  discipline  re- 
ceived a  welcome  there.  Fairfax  was  placed  at  its  head. 
The  Self-denying  Ordinance  was  suspended  in  favor  of 
Cromwell,  whose  services  could  hardly  be  spared.  He 
was  named  Lieutenant-General.  There  would  be  no 
hesitation  now  about  beating  the  king  too  much. 

There  was  the  more  reason  for  energy  as  a  powerful 
diversion  in  favor  of  the  king  was  threatening  from  Scot- 
land.   Scarcely  more  than  a  month  after 
I  7v  Montrose        battle  of  Marston  Moor,  Montrose  rode 

in  Scotland.  ' 

across  the  border  northwards,  with  only  two 
companions,  to  rouse  the  Highlanders  in  favor  of  the 
king.  He  was  received  with  the  utmost  enthusiasm.  If 
they  did  not  care  much  for  Charles  they  cared  a  great 
deal  for  plunder,  and  they  bore  a  special  hatred  to  the 
Campbells,  the  great  clan  which  tyrannized  over  the 
lesser  clans,  and  the  head  of  which  was  the  king's 
enemy,  Argyle.  Montrose  was  the  first  man  who  dis- 
covered the  capacity  of  the  Highlanders  for  sustained 
war.  Dashing  with  lightning-like  rapidity  from  one  side 
of  Scotland  to  the  other,  he  crushed  every  army  which 
was  brought  against  him.  Argyle's  lands  were  harried 
with  a  terrible  destruction ;  Dundee  was  taken  and 
sacked :  the  heavy  Lowland  troops  panted  after  his  fiery 


1 644-  Marston  Moor  and  Naseby,  149 


course  in  vain.  The  New  Model  would  have  to  bear 
the  whole  brunt  of  the  English  war.  The  Scots  who 
had  fought  the  year  before  at  Marston  Moor  were  hesi- 
tating, looking  back  over  their  shoulders  as  it  were,  to 
see  if  they  were  not  needed  home. 

The  New  Model  was  equal  to  its  task.  On  June  14  it 
met  the  king's  army  at  Naseby,  in  the  very  centre  of 
England.     Charles  was  beaten  into  utter 

A.  D.  1645. 

ruin.    He  never  ventured  to  lift  his  head       June  14. 
again  in  the  field.    Some  months  were  to  ^llik^of 
pass  away  before  all  the  English  counties  Naseby. 
were  cleared  of  royalist  troops,  and  before  all  the  forti- 
fied houses  held  by  royalist  garrisons  were  stormed  or 
reduced  to  capitulation.    But  the  final  triumph  was  only 
a  question  of  time.     Raglan  castle,  the  last  post  which 
held  out  for  the  king  in  England,  surrendered  in  August, 
1646. 

Better  tidings,  too,  came  from  Scotland.  Montrose, 
emboldened  by  victory,  had  ventured  out  of  the  High- 
lands in  the  spirit  of  his  favorite  verses — 

He  either  fears  his  fate  too  much 

Or  his  deserts  are  small, 
That  dares  not  put  it  to  the  touch 

To  gain  or  lose  it  all. 

Full  of  confidence  he  approached  the  English  border. 
But  the  Highlanders  were  back  am.ongst  the  ^  ^ 
mountains  to  secure  their  booty.  With  a  Battle  of 
handful  of  men  around  him,  Montrose  was  hi^'P^^^g^- 
surprised  at  Philiphaugh  by  a  force  sent  from  the  Scottish 
army  in  England.  It  was  a  slaughter  rather  than  a  fight, 
and  Montrose's  chance  of  ruling  Scotland  or  of  succor- 
ing the  king  in  England  had  come  to  an  end. 


150  The  Downfall  of  Royalty, 


1646. 


Section  IV. —  The  Army  and  the  Parliament, 

Swift  acknowledgment  that  kingship  was  hencefor- 
ward impossible  except  on  his  enemies'  terms  was  now 
Charles'  one  chance  of  safety.  Unhappily, 

A.  D.  1646.  .  .  .  rr    ^  ' 

g  I.  The  king  decision  of  any  kind  to  do  anything  un- 
wi  e  CO  s.  pjgg^gg^j^^  always  out  of  the  question  with 
him.  With  his  utter  blindness  to  the  thoughts  and 
feelings  of  the  world  around  him,  he  was  puffed  up  with 
the  thought  that  no  party  in  the  State  could  do  without 
him,  and  that  he  had  but  to  play  off  their  mutual  jealou- 
sies  against  one  another,  and  so  come  to  his  own  by  in- 
trigue. After  futile  negotiations  with  the  Parliament, 
he  made  up  his  mind  at  last  to  trust  himself  to  the  Scots. 
On  May  5,  1646,  he  entered  their  camp  at  Newark.  The 
Scots,  in  order  to  secure  their  guest  or  their  prize  from 
the  English  army,  carried  him  off  to  Newcastle. 

Whatever  else  the  Scots  might  expect  of  Charles, 
they  were  sure  to  expect  him  to  do  something  for  Presby- 
terianism,  and  he  was  thus  able  to  fancy 
f2^.Veeling  in  t^^t  if  he  was  vcry  clever  they  might  be 
the  English      brought  into  collision  with  the  New  Model. 

army.  ^ 

In  the  New  Model  the  feehng  against  Pres- 
byterianism,  or  rather  against  the  refusal  of  toleration 
which  sheltered  itself  under  the  name  of  Presbyterianism, 
was  growing  more  bitter  than  ever.  Richard  Baxter,  an 
active  preacher  and  controversialist,  hating  sectarianism 
and  Independency  to  the  backbone,  had  been  to  see 
what  the  army  looked  like.  *'  Abundance  of  the  common 
troopers,"  he  reported,  "  and  many  of  the  officers,  I 
found  to  be  honest,  sober,  orthodox  men,  and  others 
tractable,  ready  to  hear  the  truth,  and  of  upright  inten- 


1646. 


The  Army  and  the  Parliament, 


tions ;  but  a  few  proud,  self-conceited,  hot-headed  secta- 
ries had  got  into  the  highest  places,  and  were  Cromwell's 
chief  favorites,  and  by  their  heat  and  activity  bore  down 
the  rest,  or  carried  them  along  with  them,  and  were  the 
soul  of  the  army.  They  said,  "What  were  the  l^rds  of 
England  but  Wilham  the  Conqueror's  colonels,  or  the 
barons  but  his  majors,  or  the  knights  but  his  captains  ? 
They  plainly  showed  me  that  they  thought  God's  provi- 
dence would  cast  the  trust  of  religion  and  the  kingdom 
upon  them  as  conquerors." 

In  these  last  words  lay  the  key  of  the  immediate 
future.    These  men  had  not  exposed  their  lives  in  order 
that  they  might  be  sent  home  again  without 
liberty  of  conscience.    It  was  for  Parliament  ?  3- Cromwell 

^  on  loleration. 

to  put  an  end  to  the  Presbyterian  tyranny. 
If  not,  Parliament  must  take  the  consequences.  Of  this 
resolution  Cromwell,  with  all  moderation,  was  the  firm 
exponent.  He  had  no  enmity  against  the  Presbyterians 
as  such.  "  Presbyterians,  Independents,  all,"  he  wrote, 
"  have  here  the  same  spirit  of  faith  and  prayer,  the  same 
presence  and  answer.  They  agree  here,  have  no  names 
of  difference ;  pity  it  is  it  should  be  otherwise  anywhere. 
For,  brethren,  in  things  of  the  mind  we  look  for  no 
compulsion  but  that  of  light  and  reason."  The  rougher 
demand  of  the  common  soldier  would  give  strength  to 
the  modest  language  of  the  chief. 

All  through  1645  Parliament  and  Assembly  had  been 
busy  in  completing  the  Presbyterian  arrangements  for 
England.    By  the  end  of  the  year  there  was     ^  ^ 

.  ^4.  Proposi- 

a  large  accession  of  strength  to  the  Tolera-     tions  of  Par- 
tion  party  in  Parliament.    New  elections  ^'^"^^"t. 
were  held  to  fill  up  vacancies,  and  these  mostly  went 
against  the  Presbyterians.    But  the  Presbyterians  were 
still  strong  enough  to  settle  the  terms  which  were  to  be 


152  The  Downfall  of  Royalty,  1 646. 


offered  to  the  king.  On  July  14  the  parHamentary  pro- 
positions were  deHvered  to  Charles  at  Newcastle.  He 
was  to  surrender  the  power  over  the  militia  to  Parlia- 
ment for  twenty  years,  and  he  was  to  rule,  as  far  as  he 
was  permitted  to  rule  at  all,  as  a  Presbyterian  king,  to 
take  the  Covenant  himself,  and  to  support  the  new  Pres- 
byterian order  of  things  in  the  Church.  Charles  had  no 
intention  of  doing  anything  of  the  kind.  "All  my 
endeavors,"  he  wrote  to  the  queen,  *'  must  be  the  delay- 
ing of  my  answers  till  there  be  considerable  parties  visi- 
bly formed ;  in  other  words,  till  Presbyterians  and  In- 
dependents had  come  to  blows,  and  were  ready  to  take 
him  at  his  own  price. 

Presbyterians  and  Independents,  however,  did  not 
seem  inclined  to  come  to  blows  to  please  Charles.  For 
six  months  he  declined  to  g-ive  any  answer 

A.  D.  1647.  . 

Jan.  30.  to  the  propositions.    At  last  the  Scots  per- 

surrencfer  ue^  ccivcd  that  nothing  Satisfactory  could  be  got 
out  of  him.  They  intimated  to  the  English 
Parliament  that  they  were  ready  to  surrender  him,  and 
to  go  home  to  Scotland.  All  they  wanted  now  was  that 
the  expenses  of  their  campaign  should  be  paid.  Four 
hundred  thousand  pounds  were  owing  to  them  for  their 
services  in  England.  The  money  was  paid  down  at 
once,  and  on  January  30,  1647,  the  Scots  marched  out  of 
Newcastle,  leaving  Charles  in  the  hands  of  Parliamenta- 
ry commissioners. 

Charles  was  now  lodged  at  Holmby  House,  in  North- 
amptonshire, and  treated  with  all  outward 
f  6^"chlrres      show  of  rcspcct.    It  seemed  as  if  the  oppor- 
at  Holmby       tunitv  for  which  he  had  been  watching  was 

House.  • 

at  last  to  occur.    The  army  and  the  Parha- 
ment  were  beginning  to  quarrel. 

Knowing  its  danger  from  the  army,  the  Presbyterian 


1646. 


The  Army  and  the  Parliament. 


153 


majority  in  the  Commons  suggested  that  the  time  had 
come  to  disband  the  army,  that  strange     ^  ^. 

.  ?  7-  Dispute 

army,  in  which  every  opinion  under  the  sun  between  the 
found  refuge,  and  in  which  soldiers  occupied  theParUa- 
their  leisure  hours  not  in  the  cricket-field  or 
the  public-house,  but  in  theological  argument  or  Scriptu- 
ral exposition.  The  contemptuous  disregard  for  such 
doctrines  as  still  prevailed  in  England  was  as  distasteful 
to  the  ruling  Presbyterians  as  the  contempt  of  the  Pres- 
byterians for  earlier  forms  had  been  distasteful  to  Laud. 
"  If  I  should  worship  the  sun  or  moon,  like  the  Persians," 
said  one  of  them,  "or  that  pewter-pot  on  the  table, 
nobody  has  anything  to  do  with  it.  " 

Such  an  army  claimed  to  be  something  more  than  an 
ordinary  army.    It  had  not  fought  simply  ^  ^ 
for  the  supremacy  of  Parliament.    It  had  army  the 
fought  for  liberty  for  its  opinions,  and  it  re-  feitgfous^^^ 
fused  to  allow  itself  to  be  disbanded  till  that  ^^^^^'y. 
liberty  was  assured.    The  soldiers  regarded  themselves, 
as  indeed  they  were,  as  a  power  in  the  State. 

They  were  the  more  resolute  as  Charles  and  the  Pres- 
byterians had  been  drawing  near  to  one  another.  On 
May  12  the  king  had  at  last  accepted  the       June  4 
parliamentary  propositions,  though  not  with-  Ifrig^^^ 
out  some  important  modifications.  For  three       brought  to 
years,  and  three  years  only,  he  would  be  a         ^  army. 
Presbyterian  king,  reserving  religious  liberty  for  himself. 
The  army  determined  otherwise.     On  the  evening  of 
June  3  a  certain  Cornet  Joyce,  followed  by  a  party  of 
horse,  rode  up  to  Holmby  House,  and  told  the  king  that 
he  was  commissioned  to  remove  him.   The  next  morning 
he  repeated  his  assertion.    The  king  asked  where  his 
commission  was.    "There  is  my  commission,"  answered 
Joyce,  pointing  to  his  soldiers  drawn  up  before  the 
M 


154  The  Downfall  of  Royalty,  1647. 


window.  There  was  no  resisting  such  an  argument,  and 
Charles  was  safely  conducted  to  Newmarket. 

The  army  raised  its  demands.  Eleven  leaders  of  the 
1 10  The  Presbyterian  party,  they  declared,  must  be 
exclusion  excluded  from  the  House.  Helpless  in  the 
eleven  grasp  of  the  army,  the  eleven  ceased  to  at^ 

members.  ^^^d  the  debates.  But  the  City  of  London 
was  even  more  Presbyterian  than  the  Parliament.  A 
City  mob  burst  into  the  House,  ordering  the  Commons  to 
stand  firm  against  the  army.  The  army  took  advantage 
of  the  tumult.  Marching  rapidly  upon  London,  the 
troops  took  military  possession  of  the  City  on  August  7. 
The  eleven  members  were  summarily  got  rid  of,  and 
many  of  their  Presbyterian  followers  voluntarily  with- 
drew. 

In  the  plays  of  Richard  11.  and  Henry  IV.  Shake- 
speare lays  down  the  conditions  and  the  results  of  a  suc- 
^,  cessful  revolution.    The  incapable  ruler  who 

g  II.  The  ^ 

army  in  ncglccts  the   interest   of  the  nation  and 

thinks  only  of  his  own  cannot  maintain  his 
authority.  The  work  of  governing  must  of  necessity  be 
done,  and  some  one  more  capable  than  himself  must  be 
put  in  his  place.  But  every  violent  change  brings  its 
own  penalty  with  it.  Old  habits  of  obedience  are  broken 
off,  and  the  new  rule  introduced  by  force  is  subject  to 
daily  questioning,  and  even  to  open  attack.  A  rebellion, 
however  justifiable,  is  the  parent  of  other  rebellions 
perhaps  not  justifiable  at  all.  So  it  was  now.  The 
sword  which  had  smitten  down  Charles  smote  down  the 
House  of  Commons.  The  violation  of  a  legislative  as- 
sembly is  no  light  thing.  It  is  the  substitution  of  the 
rule  of  force  for  that  of  discussion.  Yet  if  ever  it  was 
justifiable  it  was  now.  Parliament,  which  lived  by  dis- 
cussion within  its  own  walls,  was  longing  to  suppress  dis- 


1647. 


The  Army  and  the  Parliame^it. 


155 


cussion  everywhere  else.  The  army  was  permeated  with 
discussion  from  one  end  to  the  other.  The  blow  which 
it  struck  was  on  behalf  of  that  freedom  of  thought  and 
speech  without  which  the  supremacy  of  a  Parliament  is 
as  despotic  as  the  supremacy  of  a  king. 

The  army,  too,  knew  well  that  the  hands  that  wielded 
the  sword  could  not  sway  the  sceptre  also.    Its  chiefs  at 
once  drew  up  certain  heads  of  proposals, 
which  it  offered  to  the  king  for  his  accept-  |osals^to  the 
ance.    They  proclaimed  complete  religious 
liberty  for  all  except  the  Roman  Catholics.    Those  who 
chose  to  do  so  might  submit  to  the  jurisdiction  of  bishops. 
Those  who  chose  to  do  so  might  submit  to  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  Presbyters.    But  no  civil  penalties  were  to  be 
inflicted  upon  those  who  objected  equally  to  Episcopacy 
and  to  Presbyterianism. 

No  proposal  so  wise  and  comprehensive  had  yet  been 
made.    It  gave  to  Charles,  as  it  gave  to  the 
Presbyterians,  all  that  they  could  fairly  ask.  1 13.  The 
But  neither  Charles  nor  even  Parliament  to  the  isl^  of 
was  prepared  for  so  admirable  a  settlement,  ^^sbt- 
and  the  leaders  of  the  army  withdrew  their  proposals, 
hoping  to  engraft  some  practical  toleration  on  the  origi- 
nal parliamentary  propositions.    The  king  thought  he 
saw  his  opportunity,  tried  with  feeble  cunning  to  play  off 
one  set  of  his  opponents  against  the  other,  and  then, 
when  he  found  that  they  preferred  a  compromise  with 
one  another  to  submission  to  himself,  got  on  horse-back 
late  one  evening  and  galloped  southward,  finally  taking 
refuge  in  the  Isle  of  Wight.    He  was  there  lodged  in 
Carisbrooke  Castle,  from  which  place  he  wrote  to  express 
his  readiness  to  negotiate  afresh  on  the  basis  of  Presby* 
terianism  for  three  years  and  a  moderate  toleration. 


'f{6  The  Downfall  of  Royalty,  1 647. 


Section  V. —  The  Second  Civil  War  and  the  Execution 
of  the  King.     -^r,  -  }fir^  ,  i  > 
During  the  past  negotiations  the  conduct  of  Crom- 
well and  the  army  leaders  had  been  masterly.  They 
had  seen  that,  if  their  object  of  toleration 

A.  D.  1647. 

1 1.  The  king  could  be  gained  in  any  way  whatever,  it  was 
and  the  cots.  ghould  be  obtained  with  the 

concurrence  of  Parliament.  But  this  lull  in  the  contro- 
versy thus  originating  between  Parliament  and  army 
drove  the  Scots  into  despair.  If  there  was  to  be  any 
sort  of  toleration  at  all,  they  would  have  nothing  more  to 
do  with  the  English  Parliament.  When  a  negotiation 
was  opened  at  Newport  on  this  basis,  the  Scottish  com- 
missioners entered  into  a  secret  treaty  with  Charles  by 
which  he  bound  himself  to  acknowledge  the  Presbyterian 
discipline  in  England  for  three  years,  and  to  suppress 
the  Independents  and  all  other  sects.  The  Scots,  on 
their  part,  promised  to  furnish  him  with  an  army  to  re- 
store him  to  the  throne. 

In  spite  of  the  reluctance  of  Argyle  and  other  notable 
Scotchmen,  war  between  Scotland  and  Eng- 

A.  D.  1648.  *  ^ 

April.  land  was  imminent.    In  April  1648  an  army, 

mvas?on^^^      Under  the  Duke  of  Hamilton,  was  ordered 

preparing.  ^^^^^  border 

Charles  at  last  got  the  darling  wish  of  his  heart.  Two 
of  his  enemies  were  about  to  fight  with  one  another,  and 
,    ,         .he  would  come  by  his  own.    Never  was  the 

g  3.  Indignation 

of  the  English  vanity  of  human  wishes  more  Strongly  ex- 
emplified.  A  thrill  of  angry  horror  ran 
through  the  English  army  when  they  learned  that,  in  the 
midst  of  negotiations,  the  perfidy  of  the  king  had  de- 
livered England  up  to  Scottish  Presbyterianism.  The 


1648.  The  Seco7id  Civil  War. 


soldiers  met  together  to  seek  the  Lord,  to  wrestle  with 
Him  in  prayer,  that  He  might  reveal  to  them  the  cause 
why  such  evil  had  befallen  them.  Their  own  minds 
supplied  them  with  an  answer.  Their  first  duty  was  to 
fight  the  enemy.  Their  second  duty,  if  ever  the  Lord 
brought  them  back  in  peace,  was  "  to  call  Charles  Stuart, 
that  man  of  blood,  to  an  account  for  that  blood  he  had 
shed  and  mischief  he  had  done  to  his  utmost  against  the 
Lord's  cause  and  people  in  these  poor  nations." 

On  every  side  Royalist  insurrections  blazed  up  in  an- 
ticipation of  the  arrival  of  the  Scots.    Wales  was  the  first 
to  rise.    Cornwall  and  Devonshire  came  next.  There 
were  riots  in  London,  and  Kent  was  soon  in  full  revolt. 
Cromwell  hurried  down  to  Wales,  Fairfax 
suppressed  the  Kentish  rising.    The  main  fettionrin 
body  of  the  Southern  insurgents  threw  them-  England, 
selves  into   Colchester,  were  surrounded  by  Fairfax 
and  pinned  there,  whilst  Cromwell  was  making  ready 
to  deal  with  the  Northern  danger. 
'     By  the  middle  of  July  Cromwell  had  suppressed  the 
Welsh  rising,  and  was  marching  steadily  northwards. 
On  August  17,  with  9,000  men,  he  swept 
down  at  Preston  upon  the  24,000  men  which     f  s.^befeat 
gathered  round  Hamilton.     After  a  three     of t^ie Scots, 
days'  battle  Hamilton's  army  was  swept  out  of  existence. 
On  the  28th  Colchester  surrendered  to  Fairfax  after  a 
terrible  siege.    The  second  civil  war  had  come  to  a  swift 
end. 

Whilst  the  army  had  been   fighting  royalism,  the 
House  of  Commons  had  been  carrying  on  negotiations 
with  the  king.    Presbyterian  members,  frightened  away 
in  the  preceding  autumn,  had  come  back  to 
their  seats,  and  a  renewed   Presbyterian  teH^nTsm^n 
majority  was  the  result.    As  soon  as  they  <^ominons. 


158  The  Downfall  of  Royalty.  1 648. 


saw  Cromwell  well  engaged  in  the  war,  the  Commons 
issued  a  fierce  ordinance  for  the  suppression  of  bias- 
phemies  and  heresies,  condemning  to  death  the  holders 
of  certain  specified  opinions,  and  imposing  the  penalty 
of  imprisonment  on  all  who  held,  amongst  other  things, 
that  Church-government  by  Presbytery  was  anti-Chris- 
tian or  unlawful. 

The  negotiations  with  the  king — the  Treaty  of  New- 
port, as  it  was  called — were  now  reopened.  But  even 
the  defeat  of  his  Scotch  allies  wrung  no  sub- 
featy  of  mission  from  Charles.  He  had  no  mind  to 
Newport.  comc  to  terms  with  the  parliamentary  Pres- 
byterians. His  negotiation  was  all  a  sham.  He  had 
fresh  hopes  from  Ireland,  or  from  Holland ;  and  he  had 
returned  to  his  old  game  of  arguing  much  and  conclud- 
ing nothing. 

To  that  game  the  victorious  army  had  determined  to 
put  an  end.  England  must  be  brought  under  a  settled 
Nov  20  government ;  and  a  settled  government,  with 

\  8.  The  army    Charlcs  to  Stir  up  discord  against  every  ele- 

remonstrance.  •    .a.     c>  ^  ^  - 

ment  m  the  btate  m  turn,  was  a  sheer  impos- 
sibility. In  a  long  statement  of  their  case  the  soldiers 
laid  down  that  a  king  was  but  the  highest  functionary  of 
the  State,  and  that  if  he  deliberately  abused  his  trust  he 
was  hable  to  be  called  to  account.  It  was  evident  that 
Charles  could  be  bound  by  no  ties,  that  he  regarded  the 
nation  as  his  own,  to  deal  with  as  he  pleased.  They 
demanded,  therefore,  that  the  king  should  be  brought  to 
justice. 

In  such  a  mood  the  soldiers  were  not  likely  to  trust 
much  to  Parliament.    Their  first  move  was  to  gain  pos- 

Dec.  I.  session  of  the  king's  person.  Charles  was 
|9-^he  king  removed  from  Carisbrooke  and  safely  lodged 
Castle.  at  Hurst  Castle,  a  desolate  spot  at  the  end 


The  Second  Cz7nl  War, 


159 


of  a  spit  of  land  running  out  into  the  sea.  For  a  mo- 
ment Charles  fancied  that  murder  was  intended.  He  was 
not  in  the  hands  of  murderers. 

The  next  step  of  the  army  was  to  overcome  the  re- 
sistance of  Parliament.  On  December  5  the  Commons 
declared  for  reconciliation  with  the  king; 
in  other  words,  for  endangering  all  the  ^  10!' Pride's 
valuable  results  of  the  civil  war.  The  next  ^^rge. 
morning  was  the  morning  of  Pride's  Purge.  Colonel 
Pride  was  btationed  at  the  door  of  the  House,  to  turn 
back  such  members  as  were  displeasing  to  the  army 
leaders.  In  all  ninety-six  members  were  excluded,  and 
the  House  became  a  mere  instrument  for  the  time  in  the 
hands  of  the  army.  It  was  a  mere  residue  of  a  House, 
the  number  still  voting  being  about  fifty  or  sixty. 

Such  a  House  was  sure  to  be  compliant. 

,    .  ,  1       ,  ?  II.  The 

On  the  13th  a  resolution  was  passed  that  the       king  at 

king  should  be  brought  to  justice.  He  was  Wmdsor. 
already  on  the  road  to  Windsor  under  a  strong  guard. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  new  year  a  High  Court  of  Jus- 
tice was  appointed  by  the  Commons  for  the  trial  of  the 
king,  the  Lords  refusing  to  take  any  part  in 
the  act.    On  the  4th  the  Commons  declared  Th^|- 
that  the  People  were,  under  God,  the  source 

^  '  '  of  Justice. 

of  all  just  power,  and  that  the  Commons, 
being  chosen  by  the  people,  formed  the  supreme  power 
in  England,  and  had  no  need  of  the  concurrence  of  king 
or  House  of  Lords.  The  principle  of  national  sovereign- 
ty was  surely  never  declared  by  a  less  representative 
body.  In  accordance  with  this  resolution  the  High 
Court  of  Justice  was  finally  constituted  on  the  9th  by  the 
authority  of  the  Commons  alone. 

On  January  19  Charles  was  brought  to  Whitehall. 
The  next  morning  his  trial  commenced.    Of  135  mem- 


i6o 


The  Commonwealth.  1649. 


bers  of  the  court  only  sixty-seven,  Cromwell 

Jan.  20. 

1 13.  Trial  of  being  one  of  them,  were  present.  When 
the  king.  Fairfax's  name  was  called  his  wife  cried 
out,  "  He  is  not  here,  and  will  never  be  ;  you  do  wrong 
to  name  him."  To  the  charge  brought  the  king  replied 
by  simply  denying  the  authority  of  the  court.  As  he 
refused  to  plead,  the  trial  was  reduced  to  a  mere  for- 
mality. On  the  27th  the  King  of  England  was  sentenced 
to  death. 

On  the  29th  the  sentence  was  carried  into  execution. 
Jan.  29.  took  leave  of  his  two  youngest  children 

^  14.  The         alone  who  were  still  in  England.    Then  he 

execution.  ^ 

stepped  firmly  on  the  scaffold,  outside  the 
window  bent  his  head  upon  the  block,  and  all  was  over. 


CHAPTER  VH. 

THE  COMMONWEALTH. 

Section  I. —  Cromweir s  I^st  Victories. 

Nothing  in  Charles'  life  became  him  like  the  manner 
in  which  he  left  it.  His  own  conviction  of  the  justice  of 
,         ,  ,      his  cause  had  been  so  thorough  that  he  had 

^  I.  Charles  . 

vi^wofhis  own  seen  even  in  the  underhana  mtngues  which 
authority.  ^.^  ^^^.^   nothing  but  legitimate 

weapons  to  be  used  in  defence  of  the  nation  whose 
happiness  was  in  his  eyes  inextricably  bound  up  with  his 
own  authority.  His  opinion  was  clearly  expressed  in 
those  lines  of  the  Roman  poet  of  the  declining  empire 
which  Charles  wrote  in  a  book  not  long  before  his  death, 
as  a  testimony  against  the  levelling  and  anti-monarchic 
spirits  which  predominated  at  that  time :  "  He  is  de- 


1 649'  Cromweir s  Last  Victories.  i6i 


ceived  who  thinks  that  there  can  be  slavery  under  an 
excellent  prince.  There  is  no  fairer  form  of  liberty  than 
under  a  pious  king.** 

Against  this  notion  the  leaders  in  the  army  had  uttered 
their  protest.  They  thought  to  emphasize  their  words  by 
the  blow  on  the  scaffold  at  Whitehall.  If 
any  political  crime  committed  with  good  in-  ceedTngs^^° 
tentions  deserves  the  extreme  penalty  of  the  nfegaf^^^"^ 
law,  that  penalty  was  deserved  by  Charles 
by  his  breach  of  faith  at  the  time  of  the  treaty  of  New- 
port.   But  it  was  not  from  the  law  that  Charles  had 
suffered.    Legal  tribunals  are  not  infallible.    But  they 
are  composed  in  such  a  way  as  to  secure  as  much  im- 
partiality as  possible,  and  are  accustomed  to  act  accord- 
ing to  certain  rules  which  offenders  are  aware  of  in  ad- 
vance.   To  reach  Charles  the  army  leaders  were  obliged 
to  overturn  the  House  of  Commons,  to  pass  over  the  re- 
sistance of  the  House  of  Lords,  and  to  nominate  a  new 
tribunal  to  decide  by  rules  hitherto  unknown.  That 
which  was  done  would  have  been  just  as  legal  if  the 
officers  had  brought  Charles  before  a  court-martial,  and 
ordered  out  a  platoon  of  infantry  to  shoot  him. 

Never  was  any  army  more  desirous  of  escaping  from 
the  necessity  of  using  brute  force  than  thi?  one.  The 
cause  which  it  sustained  was  the  right  cause, 
and  it  sustained  it  worthily  with  the  pen  as  jectioi?no?' 
well  as  with  the  sword.    But  they  could  not  foriJfa? 
endure  that  all  their  sacrifices  should  go  for 
nothing ;  that  foolish,  unwise  prejudices  should  have  the 
upper  hand ;  that  armies  should  gather  round  Charles  in 
the  absurd  expectation  that  he  would  rule  otherwise  than 
he  had  ruled  before.     If  only  Charles'  head  were  off, 
justice  would  be  done,  and  men's  minds  would  no  longer 
be  set  on  so  ridiculous  a  quest  as  that  of  a  Presbyterian 


l62 


The  Commonwealth.  164Q. 


Charles  I.  Not  so  !  That  which  seemed  to  end  all  ended 
nothing.  Brute  force  had  been  put  forth,  and  that  was  all. 
It  was  bad  enough  to  contend  with  the  elements  of  confu- 
sion which  had  gathered  round  Charles.  It  would  be  worse 
to  contend  with  them  when  the  narrow-minded  and  self- 
willed  prince  had  been  elevated  to  the  position  of  a  saint 
and  a  martyr,  and  when  the  defence  of  violated  law,  and 
the  maintenance  of  popular  rights  against  the  iron  will  of 
a  triumphant  soldiery,  came  to  be  the  watchword  of  the 
followers  of  Charles  II. 

For  the  moment  a  government  was  established.  The 
Commonwealth  of  England  took  the  place  of  the  King- 
.  Estab-  dom  of  England.  A  Council  of  State,  com- 
lishment  of  the     poscd  of  forty-one  leading  parliamentary 

Commonwealth.  .  .  ,      ...  .  . 

officials  and  military  personages,  exercised 
the  executive  power.  The  House  of  Lords  had  already 
ceased  to  exist.  The  fragment  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, practically  seldom  exceeding  some  fifty  members, 
played  the  part  of  a  Parliament.  Of  this  body  the 
Council  of  State  formed  the  great  majority,  and  was 
thus  able  to  register  its  own  decrees  under  parhamentary 
forms.  In  quiet  times  such  a  burlesque  on  parliamenta- 
ry government  could  not  have  lasted  long ;  and  a  real 
elected  House  of  Commons  was  amongst  the  ideals  of 
the  army.  But  the  times  were  not  quiet,  and  there  was 
fighting  enough  in  prospect  to  make  the  leaders  of  the 
army  disinclined  at  present  to  tamper  further  with  the 
constitution.  Wild  ideas  were  seething  in  the  ranks; 
but  an  attempt  to  mutiny  in  their  favor  was  suppressed 
by  the  iron  hand  of  Cromwell. 

Cromwell  was  first  called  to  Ireland.  Ever  since  the 
massacre  of  1641  Ireland  had  been  the  scene  of  anarchy 
Aug.  15.     and  slaughter.    The  Royalists   were  now 

Irdand  ^^^^  Combined  in  alliance  with  the  native  Roman 


1O50.  Cromweir  s  Last  Victories. 


Catholic  population  against  the  parliamentary  forces 
cooped  up  in  Dublin.  If  Dublin  fell,  an  independent  gov- 
ernment would  be  established  which  might  hold  out  the 
hand  to  the  English  Royalists.  On  Aug.  1 5  Cromwell  land" 
ed  at  Dublin.  On  Sept.  1 1,  he  stormed  Drogheda.  Quarter 
was  refused,  and  2,000  men  with  arms  in  their  hands  were 
put  to  the  sword.  Even  CromAvell  felt  a  half  suspicion  that 
some  excuse  was  needed,  though  the  refusal  of  quarter 
had  been  a  matter  of  everyday  occurrence  in  the  German 
war,  and  had  been  not  without  precedent  even  in  Eng- 
land, "lam  persuaded,"  he  wrote,  "that  this  is  a 
righteous  judgment  of  God  upon  these  barbarous 
wretches,  who  have  imbrued  their  hands  in  so  much  in- 
nocent blood ;  and  that  it  will  tend  to  prevent  the  effu- 
sion of  blood  for  the  future  :  which  are  the  satisfactory 
grounds  to  such  actions,  which  otherwise  cannot  but 
work  remorse  and  regret."  The  massacre  of  Drogheda 
was  but  the  beginning  of  victory.  At  Wexford  there 
was  another  slaughter,  this  time  without  orders  from  the 
general.  Town  after  town  surrendered.  In  the  next 
spring  Cromwell  was  able  to  quit  Ireland,  leaving  what 
work  remained  to  be  done  to  be  accomphshed  by  his 
successors.  The  conquest  was  prosecuted  with  savage 
effectiveness,  and  when  at  last,  in  1652,  the  war  came  to 
an  end,  three  out  of  four  provinces  of  Ireland  were  con- 
fiscated for  the  benefit  of  the  conquering  race.  The 
landowners  of  Ireland  were  driven  from  their  homes,  to 
find  what  sustenance  they  could  in  the  wilds  of  Con- 
naught. 

It  was  time  for  Cromwell  to  be  back  in  England. 
The   young   Commonwealth   was  looked 

.  A.  D.  1650. 

upon  askance  by  the  European   Powers.  §6.  Montrose 

One  of  its  ambassadors  was  murdered  at 

the  Hague.  Another  was  murdered  at  Madrid  with  gen- 


i64 


The  Commonwealth.  1650. 


eral  applause.  Montrose,  who  was  living  in  exile,  started 
once  more  for  his  native  country  on  a  mission  of  ven- 
geance for  his  slain  master.  In  the  spring  of  1650  he 
landed  in  the  Orkneys.  Crossing  to  Caithness  he  found 
no  one  prepared  to  rise  in  his  behalf.  It  may  be  that 
there  was  no  jealousy  of  Argyle  so  far  north,  and  no 
enthusiasm  for  the  king.  At  any  rate,  he  was  over- 
powered, carried  to  Edinburgh,  and  hanged  as  a  rebel. 

If  the  Scots  would  not  tolerate  Montrose,  they  had 
not  given  up  their  own  idea  of  living  under  a  Presby- 
June  24.  terian  king.    They  proclaimed  the  young 

iLiifscot-^  prince — Charles  II.,  as  they  called  him — 
king,  and  invited  him  to  Scotland.  Much 
against  his  will  he  swore  to  the  Covenant.  On  June  24 
he  landed  in  Scotland.  The  idea  of  Charles  II.  as  a 
Covenanting  king  seems  absurd  enough  now  that  his 
character  is  known.  He  was  then  but  a  lad,  and  the 
Scotch  ministers  thought  they  could  mould  him  to  their 
wishes.  Cromwell  had  not  gained  much  by  executing 
one  Charles.  Another  Charles  was  there,  with  a  whole 
Scottish  nation  behind  his  back,  and  with  a  large  part 
of  the  English  nation  ready  to  support  him,  if  it  could 
be  done  with  safety.  The  head  of  one  man  was  off  his 
shoulders  ;  but  the  sentiment  which  had  made  that  man 
powerful  had  not  been  eradicated. 

Cromwell  hastened  to  Scotland  to  nip  the  mischief  in 
the  bud.  Fairfax  with  all  friendliness  declined  to  go. 
,  „  ^  He  did  not  see,  he  said,  why  the  Scotch  had 

\  8.  Crom- 

v/eii  in  not  a  right  to  settle  their  own  government 

^°  '  as  they  pleased.  On  July  22  the  army 
crossed  the  border.  On  the  28th  it  was  before  Edinburgh. 
But  the  Scottish  army  was  entrenched  in  front,  too 
strongly  posted  to  be  attacked.  Cromwell  had  to  retreat 
to  save  his  men  from  starvation.    He  lingered  as  long  as 


1650. 


CromwelV s  Last  Victories, 


he  could,  but  on  August  31,  he  marched  back  to 
Dunbar. 

His  prospects  now  were  forlorn  enough.  The  Scotch 
had  seized  the  pass  through  which  the  road  led  to  Eng- 
land.   On  one  side  of  him  was  the  sea,  on 

Sept.  3. 

the  other  a  long  hill,  now  crowned  with  the  ^9. Battle  of 
Scottish  army.  Escape  seemed  difficult,  ^'^* 
well  nigh  hopeless.  But  the  Scots  were  weary  of  wait- 
ing. On  the  morning  of  September  3  they  began  to  de- 
scend the  hill,  Oliver  saw  his  advantage.  As  the  enemy 
reached  the  bottom  he  charged  into  them,  dashed  them 
into  sheer  confusion,  and  drove  them  back  into  the 
r-a.nks  behind  them.  "  Let  God  arise,  let  his  enemies  be 
scattered  !  "  were  the  words  which  rose  to  the  lips  of  the 
victor.    The  Scottish  army  was  utterly  ruined. 

Cromwell  was  soon  at  Edinburgh,  pleading  scornfully 
and  yet  half-tenderly  with  the  Presbyterian 

•   .  A    n  roil,  ?  Crom- 

mmisters.    A  large  part  of  Scotland  sub-     well  at 
mitt^  to  him.    But  there  was  still  an  army  Edinburgh, 
in  the  field  which   refused  to  submit,  and  during  the 
winter  and  spring  that  army  gathered  strength. 

In  August  the  Scottish  leaders  resolved  to  push  for 
England.    An  English  insurrection  in  Cromwell's  rear 
would  make  his  position  in  Scotland  untenable.  With 
the  young  king  in  their  midst,  and  Crom- 
well hard  upon  their  heels,  they  marched  Battle 
doggedly  southwards.     Their  hopes  were  cester. 
disappointed.    The  fear  of  Cromwell  kept 
those  at  home  whose  hearts  were  beating  to  join  the 
Scots.    Almost  unaided  the  invaders  struggled  on  till 
they  reached  Worcester.     There   Cromwell  overtook 
them.    Slaughter  or  capture  was  the  lot  of  that  doomed 
army.  "  The  dimensions  of  this  mercy,"  wrote  Cromwell, 
*'  are  above  my  thoughts.    It  is,  for  aught  I  know  a 


i66 


The  Commonwealth, 


crowning  mercy."  He  spoke  truly.  Never  again  was 
he  called  upon  to  draw  sword  in  England. 

Cromwell  was  at  least  spared  the  anxiety  of  deciding 
what  was  to  be  done  with  a  second  royal  prisoner. 
I  12  Escape  Charles  threw  himself  upon  the  loyalty  of 
of  Charles  a  Royalist  gentleman  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  he  was  not  deceived.  In  after 
days  men  told  how  he  had  been  seated  in  the  branches 
of  an  oak  whilst  the  troopers  who  were  searching  for 
him  rode  below.  Dressed  as  a  servant  he  rode  to  Bris- 
tol, with  a  lady  riding  on  a  pillion  behind.  At  Char- 
mouth  he  hoped  to  find  a  vessel  to  carry  him  to  France. 
But  the  master  of  the  ship  refused  to  go.  It  was  not  till 
he  reached  Brighton,  then  a  small  fishing  village,  that 
he  found  the  help  that  he  wanted,  and  made  his  escape 
from  England  in  safety. 

Section  II. — Dissolution  of  the  Long  Parliament, 

Peace,"  sung  Milton,  in  his  sonnetto  Cromwell,  "hath 
her  victories  no  less  renowned  than  war."  Peace,  too, 
1 1.  The  forlorn  hopes,  her  stout  battling  for 

work  of  the      g,  cause  lost  by  anticipation,  and  destined 

Revolution  ^ 

accom-  only  to  reappear  in  other  days  when  the 

phshed.  standard  shall  have  been  entrusted  to  arms 

more  fortunate  if  not  more  stalwart.  Cromwell  and  the 
higher  officers  in  the  army,  Sir  Henry  Vane  and  the 
nobler  spirits  yet  remaining  in  the  Parliament,  were  alike 
bent  upon  realizing  the  same  high  object — a  free  state 
governed  in  accordance  with  the  resolutions  of  its  elected 
representatives,  and  offering  guarantees  for  individual 
liberty  of  thought  and  speech,  without  which  parliamen- 
tary government  is  only  another  name  for  tyranny.  But 
their  powers  were  not  equal  to  their  wishes.  The  revo- 
lutionary force  in  the  country  had  been  spent  long  before 


1652.     Dissolution  of  the  Long  Parliament.  167 


the  execution  of  Charles ;  and  now  that  his  possible 
successor  was  a  youth  of  whom  no  harm  was  known,  the 
Royalist  flood  was  mounting  steadily.  Even  the  origi- 
nal feeling  of  the  nation  had  been  not  against  royalty, 
but  against  the  particular  way  in  which  the  king  had 
acted  ;  and  the  necessity  for  dethronement  and  the  sup- 
posed necessity  for  execution  had  been  founded  upon 
reasoning  which  had  never  stirred  the  popular  heart. 
The  nation  at  large  did  not  really  care  for  a  common- 
wealth, did  not  care  for  religious  liberty.  The  violent 
suppression  of  the  episcopalian  worship  had  alienated 
as  many  as  had  been  alienated  by  Laud's  injudicious 
resuscitation  of  obsolete  forms.  Most  Englishmen  would 
have  been  quite  content  if  they  could  have  got  a  king  who 
would  have  shown  some  reasonable  respect  for  the  wishes 
of  Parliament,  and  who  would  abstain  from  open  illegality. 

In  short,  the  leaders  of  the  Commonwealth  found 
themselves,  in  some  sort,  in  the  same  position  as  that  in 
which  Laud  found  himself  in  1629.    They  ia^tls, 
had  an  ideal  of  their  own  which  they  be-  ofthelead- 

ers  of  the 

lieved  to  be  really  good  for  the  nation,  and  Common- 
they  hoped  that  by  habituating  the  nation 
to  that  which  they  thought  best  they  could  at  last  bring 
it  to  a  right  frame  of  mind.  If  their  experiment  and  its 
failure  is  more  interesting  than  Laud's  experiment  and 
its  failure,  it  is  because  their  ideal  was  far  higher  than 
his.  It  broke  down  not  because  they  were  wrong,  but 
because  the  nation  was  not  as  yet  ripe  for  acceptance  of 
anything  so  good. 

The  difference  of  opinion  which  slowly  grew  up  be- 
tween army  leaders  and  Parliamentary  leaders  was  only 
the  natural  result  of  the  tacit  acknowledg-  ^  ^  ^^^3 
ment  of  this  rock  ahead,  which  was  none  \  3-  Scheme 

tor  a  new 

the  less  felt  because  both  parties  shrunk  Parliament. 


i68 


llie  Commomvealth. 


1652. 


from  avowing  it.  A  free  Parliament  would  perhaps  be 
a  Royalist  Parliament.  In  that  case,  it  would  probably 
care  nothing  about  liberty,  and  would  certainly  care  no- 
thing about  Puritanism.  How  was  the  danger  to  be  met  ? 
The  fifty  or  sixty  men  who  called  themselves  a  Parlia- 
ment had  their  own  remedy  for  the  disease.  Let  there 
be  new  elections  to  the  vacant  seats,  but  let  their  own 
seats  not  be  vacated.  Let  these  old  members  have  power 
to  reject  such  new  members  as  seemed  to  them  unfit  to 
serve  in  Parhament.  There  would  be  something  that 
looked  like  a  free  Parliament,  and  yet  it  would  not  be  a 
free  Parliament  at  all.  Those  only  would  be  admitted 
who  were  thought  by  the  old  members  to  be  the  right 
sort  of  persons  to  influence  the  nation. 

The  scheme,  in  fact,  was  a  sham,  and  Cromwell  dis- 
liked shams.  He  had  another  objection  equally  strong. 
.    „  If  there  was  one  thine^  for  which  he  and  his 

§  4.  Crom-  ,  ° 

well's  objec-  soldicrs  had  fought  and  bled,  it  was  for  the 
sake  of  religious  liberty,  a  liberty  which  was 
real  enough  as  far  as  it  went,  even  if  it  was  much  less 
comprehensive  than  that  which  has  been  accepted  in 
later  times.  No  security  was  offered  for  religious  liberty 
under  the  new-old  Parliament.  There  was  nothing  to 
prevent  it  from  abolishing  all  that  existed  at  any  mo- 
ment it  pleased. 

As  often  happens,  moral  repugnance  came  to  the  help 
of  logical  reasoning.  Not  a  few  of  the  members  of  Par- 
liament were  conducting  themselves  in  such  a  way  as  to 
forfeit  the  respect  of  all  honest  men.  Against  foreign 
foes,  indeed,  the  Commonwealth  had  been 
The  successful.  The  navy  reorganized  by  Vane 
Navigation      ^^d  cleared  the  seas  of  Royalist  privateers. 

Commercial  jealousy  against  the  Dutch  had 
mingled  with  the  tide  of  political  ill-feeling.  In  1651  the 


1653-     Dissolution  of  the  Long  Parliament,  169 


Navigation  Act  was  aimed  at  the  Dutch  carrying  trade, 
which  had  flourished  simply  because  the  Dutch  vessels 
were  better  built  and  long  experience  had  enabled  them 
to  transport  goods  from  one  country  to  another  more 
cheaply  than  the  merchants  of  other  nations.  Hence- 
forth Enghsh  vessels  alone  were  to  be  allowed  to  import 
goods  into  England,  excepting  in  the  case  of  vessels  be- 
longing to  the  country  in  which  the  goods  were  produced. 

War  was  the  result.    In  January  1652  the  seizure  of 
Dutch  ships  began.    The  two  sturdy  an-       ^  d.  1652. 
tagonists  were  well  matched.    There  were  ifththe 
no  decisive  victories.  But  on  the  whole  the  Dutch. 
English  had  the  upper  hand. 

Such  a  war  was  expensive.  Royalists  were  forced  to 
compound  for  their  estates  forfeited  by  their  adoption  of 
the  king's  cause.  Even  if  this  measure  had     „  ^ 

1  r  •  -I  -11  ,  ?  7*  Corrup- 

been  fairly  carried  out  the  attempt  to  make  tion  in  Par- 
one  part  of  the  nation  pay  for  the  expenses  lament, 
of  the  whole  was  more  likely  to  create  dissension  than 
to  heal  it.  But  it  was  not  fairly  carried  out.  Members 
of  Parliament  took  bribes  to  let  this  man  and  that  man 
off  more  easily  than  those  who  were  less  able  to  pay. 
The  effects  of  unlimited  power  were  daily  becoming 
more  manifest.  To  be  the  son  or  a  nephew  of  one  of 
the  holders  of  authority  was  a  sure  passport  to  the  pub- 
lic service.  Forms  of  justice  were  disregarded,  and  the 
nation  turned  with  vexation  upon  its  so-called  liberators, 
whose  yoke  was  as  heavy  to  bear  as  that  which  had  been 
shaken  off. 

Of  this  dissatisfaction  Cromwell  constituted  himself  the 
mouthpiece.    His  remedy  for  the  evil  which  both  sides 
dreaded  was  not  the  perpetuation  of  a     ^  ^  ^5^^ 
Parliament  which  did  not  represent  the     gs.  Crom- 

^  well  s  plan„ 

nation,  but  the  establishment  of  constitu- 
N 


I70 


The  Commonwealth, 


tional  securities,  which  would  limit  the  powers  of  a  freely 
elected  Parliament.  He  and  his  officers  proposed  that  a 
committee  formed  of  members  of  Parliament  and  officers 
should  be  nominated  to  deliberate  on  the  requisite 
securities. 

On  April  19  he  was  assured  or  believed  himself  to  be 
assured  by  one  of  the  leading  members  that  nothing 
April  20  would  be  done  in  a  hurry.    On  the  morning 

^  9.  Dissolu-  of  the  20th  he  was  told  that  Parliament  was 
Long  Pariia-  hurriedly  passing  its  own  bill  in  defiance  of 
ment.  -j^-g  objections.    Going  at  once  to  the  House 

he  waited  till  the  decisive  question  was  put  to  the  vote. 
Then  he  rose.  The  Parliament,  he  said,  had  done  well 
in  their  pains  and  care  for  the  public  good.  But  it  had 
been  stained  with  "  injustice,  delays  of  justice,  self-in- 
terest." Then,  when  a  member  interrupted  him,  he 
blazed  up  into  anger.  "Come,  come!  we  have  had 
enough  of  this.  I  will  put  an  end  to  this.  It  is  not  fit 
you  should  sit  here  any  longer."  Calling  in  his  soldiers, 
he  bade  them  clear  the  House,  following  the  members 
with  words  of  obloquy  as  they  were  driven  out.  "  What 
shall  we  do  with  this  bauble?"  he  said,  taking  up  the 
mace.  "  Take  it  away."  Then,  as  if  feeling  the  burthen 
of  the  work  which  he  was  doing  pressing  upon  him,  he 
sought  to  excuse  himself,  as  he  had  sought  to  excuse 
himself  after  the  slaughter  of  Drogheda.  "  It  is  you," 
he  said,  "  that  have  forced  me  to  do  this.  I  have  sought 
the  Lord  night  and  day,  that  He  would  rather  slay  me 
than  put  me  upon  the  doing  of  this  work.** 


Section  III. —  The  Assembly  of  Nominees, 

Every  political  institution  which  England  possessed 
was  now  levelled  with  the  ground.    King,  Lords,  and 


1^53-  Assembly  of  Nominees,  171 


Commons  had  fallen,  as  Cromwell  explained,  Viewr 
because  they  had  failed  to  perform  their 
trust.  In  every  case  the  judgment  had  been  delivered 
not  by  the  nation  but  by  the  army.  In  the  eyes  of  the 
army  leaders  a  sort  of  Divine  right  attached  to  their 
actions.  God,  they  held,  "  by  their  victories,  had  so 
called  them  to  look  after  the  government  of  the  land, 
and  so  entrusted  them  with  the  welfare  of  all  His  people 
here,  that  they  were  responsible  for  it,  and  might  not  in 
conscience  stand  still  while  anything  was  done  which 
they  thought  was  against  the  interest  of  the  people  of 
God." 

How  would  this  power  be  exercised?  Was  the  army 
to  aim  only  at  maintaining  liberty  of  conscience  ;  or  was 
it  also  to  aim  at  Riving-  effect  in  other  matters 

July  4. 

to  the  views  of  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  I2.  The 
wishes  of  the  many  ?  At  least  it  had  no  nominees, 
thought  of  grasping  political  power  itself.  In  the  name 
of  the  General  and  the  Council  of  officers,  a  body  of  140 
nominees  were  gathered  together,  called  afterwards,  in 
derision,  Barebone's  Parliament,  from  the  name  of  one 
Praise-God  Barebone  who  sat  in  it.  The  men  were  not 
mere  fanatics,  but  they  were  most  of  them  of  a  strongly 
Puritan  character,  many  of  them  being  foremost  amongst 
the  leading  sects.  In  the  speech  which  Cromwell  ad- 
dressed to  them  he  dwelt  at  length  on  their  qualifications 
as  godly  men.  It  was  not  now  to  prepare  a  constitution 
that  they  had  come  together.  They  were  to  rule  Eng- 
land simply  on  the  grounds  of  their  godliness.  The 
time  might  come  when  an  elective  Parliament  would 
take  their  place,  when  the  people  were  fitted  by  God  to 
elect  and  to  be  elected.  ''Would  all  were  the  Lord's 
people  !  "  When  they  w^ere,  there  would  be  no  further 
difficulty  about  elections. 


172 


Th e  Com monwealth . 


It  was  Cromwell's  ideal;  men  were  to  be  excluded 
from  all  part  in  government  till  they  were  fit  to  take 
,    „       ,      part  in  it,  an  ideal  not  altosrether  dissimilar 

a  3.  Proceed-      ^  r  i 

mgsofthe  from  that  of  Charles  and  Strafford.  It  was 
Assembly.  destined  to  a  rude  awakening.  The  godly 
men  turned  out  the  most  crotchety  and  unpractical  set 
ever  gathered  together.  They  had  no  knowledge  of 
practical  affairs,  no  sympathy  for  the  commonplace,  un- 
ideal  men  who  form  the  bulk  of  the  community.  They 
proposed  to  abolish  the  Court  of  Chancery,  without  sub- 
stituting any  other  tribunal  for  it,  and  to  suppress  the 
payment  of  tithes  without  providing  any  other  means  of 
support  for  the  clergy.  In  a  few  months  the  Assembly 
had  become  as  unpopular  as  the  Long  Parliament.  Law 
and  order,  it  seemed,  were  to  be  offered  up  a  sacrifice 
to  a  handful  of  dreamers.  It  would  be  well  if  the  worst 
had  n<Dw  been  told.  Fifth  Monarchy  men,  as  they  were 
called,  seriously  declared  that  the  time  had  come  for  the 
reign  of  the  saints  to  begin,  and  that  they  were  the  saints 
to  rule.  All  men  who  had  anything  to  lose,  especially 
the  clergy  and  the  lawyers,  turned  their  eyes  upon 
Cromwell.  For  it  was  known  that  Cromwell's  strong 
common  sense  would  preserve  him  from  the  extrava- 
gances which  swept  away  lighter  heads. 

In  the  Assembly  itself  the  party  of  resistance  formed 
a  strong  minority.    One  day  in  December  the  minority 

got  up  early  in  the  morning,  came  down  to 
^4^^Resigna-  the  Housc,  and  before  their  opponents  knew 
Assembly        what  they  were  about,  resigned  their  powers 

into  the  hands  of  Cromwell.  The  political 
institutions  of  the  nation  had  been  swept  away.  But  the 
social  institutions  were  less  easily  touched.  At  a  later 
time,  a  long  course  of  abuses  festering  in  the  very  heart 
of  society  itself,  stirred  up  the  French  nation  to  a  revo- 


Oliver*  s  First  Parliament. 


173 


lution  which  left  no  time-honored  principle  unassailed, 
no  established  arrangement  unquestioned.  Centuries  of 
fairly  good  government  in  England  had  naturally  re- 
sulted in  no  such  feeling.  The  majority  of  the  Assembly 
were  doubtless  right  in  pointing  to  real  abuses.  But 
they  wanted  to  do  in  a  few  weeks  hurriedly  and  igno- 
rantly  a  work  which  it  would  take  years  of  the  most  ac- 
curate knowledge  and  the  most  patient  inquiry  to  ac- 
complish. They  forgot  that  it  is  not  enough  to  mean 
well  in  order  to  do  well.  The  nominees  sank  again  into 
private  life  as  little  regretted  by  the  nation  as  the  Long 
Parliament  had  been  regretted  before  them. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
Oliver's  protectorate. 
Section  I. — Oliver' s  First  Parliament, 

Amongst  the  leading  officers  there  had,  doubtless,  been 
a  knowledge  of  what  was  coming.  On  December  16  they 
drew  up  an  Instrument  of  Government,  a 
Constitution,  as  we  should  say.    The  idea  ^i^.^xlfe 
of  temporarily  superseding  the  representa-  fh^sUuation^ 
tives  of  the  nation  was  dropped.  There  was  to 
be  again  an  elected  Parliament,  consisting  of  one  House. 
But  there  were  two  lessons  taught  by  the  history  of  the 
Long  Parliament,  which  had  not  been  forgotten  by  the 
officers.    In  the  first  place,  a  large  assembly  cannot  pro- 
fitably govern  directly.    In  the  second  place,  there  are 
certain  rights,  such  as  those  of  mental  and  religious 
freedom,  which  ought  to  be  beyond  the  power  of  any 


n4 


Oliver' s  Protectorate.  1653. 


government  to  overthrow.  The  time  would  come  when 
these  principles  would  enter  into  the  constitutional  habits 
of  the  nation.  And  yet  it  was  difficult  to  teach  Parlia- 
ments the  needful  lesson  ;  and  the  instruction  was  all  the 
more  difficult  because  the  ideas  which  the  officers  wished 
to  prevail  were  only  the  ideas  of  a  minority  of  the  nation. 
To  institute  an  executive  Government  responsible  to 
Parliament  would  be  to  expose  it  to  be  called  upon  to 
become  the  instrument  of  religious  tyranny  in  one  shape 
or  another. 

The  executive  power,  therefore-,  was  lodged  in  Crom- 
well as  Lord  Protector,  a  title  which  had  been  borne  in 
old  days  by  regents  who  had  governed 
!trumen?"of  time  of  a  king  who  was  a  minor.  He 

Government.  bound  in  cascs  of  importance  to  con- 

sult the  Council  of  State,  which  filled  up  all  vacancies  in 
its  own  body.  The  Parliament,  on  the  other  hand,  had 
the  very  largest  powers.  It  alone  could  grant  supplies 
and  levy  taxes.  If  the  Protector  could  issue  temporary 
ordinances  during  the  interval  between  the  sessions,  he 
was  bound  to  lay  them  before  Parliament  when  it  met 
and  to  obtain  its  assent  to  their  continuance.  Parliament, 
too,  could  make  laws  whether  the  Protector  approved  of 
them  or  not.  It  was  to  meet  once  a  year,  and  when  it 
had  once  met,  till  five  months  were  passed  he  could 
neither  dissolve  it  nor  prorogue  it. 

The  Instrument  of  Government  was  the  first  of  hun- 
dreds of  written  constitutions  which  have  since  spread 
I  3  The  first  ovcr  the  world,  of  which  the  American  is 
written  con-  most  conspicuous  example,  in  which  a 

stitutioD.  .  ... 

barrier  is  set  up  against  the  entire  predom- 
inance of  any  one  set  of  official  persons,  by  attributing 
strictly  limited  functions  to  each.  The  Protector,  the 
Council  of  State,  and  the  Parliament  each  had  his  or 


/  6 5  4-  Oliver*  s  First  Parliament.  175 

their  recognised  sphere  of  action  ;  yet  each  needed  the 
co-operation  of  the  other.  In  America  provision  is  made, 
by  the  necessity  which  the  president  is  under  of  leav- 
ing office  at  the  end  of  four  years,  for  an  appeal  to  the 
people  to  decide  in  the  last  instance  between  the  pres- 
ident and  the  legislative  body,  if  they  have  otherwise 
been  unable  to  come  to  an  agreement.  There  was  no 
similar  provision  in  the  Instrument  of  Government. 
If  the  new  Parliament  chose  to  refuse  taxes,  it  could 
make  all  government  impossible  excepting  according  to 
its  wishes,  whilst  the  Protector  and  his  council  would 
be  left  to  carry  out  a  policy  of  which  they  disapproved. 
Such  a  fault  in  the  constitution  was  not  attributable  to 
any  mere  defect  in  the  wording  of  the  Instrument.  It 
grew  out  of  the  necessities  of  the  situation.  There  was 
an  honorable  desire  on  the  part  of  the  framers  of  the 
Constitution  that  government  should  be  carried  on  in 
accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the  representative  of  the 
people.  There  was  an  equally  honorable  desire  to 
maintain  the  actual  administration  of  government  in 
the  hands  of  men  of  proved  capacity,  and  to  save 
the  great  principle  of  toleration  from  the  shipwreck  to 
which  it  was  inevitably  destined  if  it  was  to  depend  upon 
the  votes  of  a  popular  assembly. 

Those  who  were  anxious  to  avert  a  collision  between 
the  Government  and  the  future  Parhament  might  hope 
that  the  character  of  the  new  Government 

A.  D.  1654. 

would  count  for  something.  The  ninemonths  |^4- Oliver's 
which  intervened  between  Oliver's  eleva- 
tion to  the  protectorate  and  the  meeting  of  Parliament 
were  spent  in  intelligent  and  fruitful  work.  An  end  was 
put,  on  honorable  terms,  to  the  war  with  the  Dutch, 
and  England  was  once  more  at  peace  with  the  world. 
By  a  provision  of  the  Instrument  the  Protector  was  em- 


176 


Oliver"  s  Protectorate. 


1054. 


powered  to  issue  ordinances  valid  till  they  had  been 
examined  by  Parliament.  In  this  way  provision  was 
made  for  those  difficulties  which  had  thrown  an  apple 
of  discord  into  the  midst  of  the  Assembly  of  Nomi- 
nees. Chancery  was  reformed,  and  not  abolished ;  ar- 
rangements were  made  for  securing  an  able  and  efficient 
clergy,  without  inquisition  into  opinion,  so  long,  at'least, 
as  that  opinion  was  Puritan,  and  without  throwing  the 
clergy  for  its  support  on  the  voluntary  offerings  of  a  pop- 
ulation too  often  steeped  in  ignorance  and  vice. 

If  much  was  to  be  hoped  for  from  the  excellence  of 
the  Government,  something,  too,  might  be  looked  for 
from  the  constitution  of  Parliament  itself. 
tutionTf For  the  first  time  members  sat  in  it  for  Scot- 
Pariiament.  land  and  Ireland,  and  a  redistribution  of 
seats  had  made  the  House  a  fairer  reflection  of  the 
wishes  of  the  nation  than  it  had  been  before.  Such 
changes  were  likely  to  have  but  little  influence  on  the 
special  controversy  of  the  day.  The  arrangement  of 
immediate  importance  was  the  exclusion  for  twelve 
years,  of  all  persons  who  had  in  any  way  assisted  the 
king,  that  is  to  say,  of  the  old  Episcopalian  royalists, 
and  of  the  new  Presbyterian  royalists  as  well.  It  might 
be  expected  that  a  House  elected  on  these  terms  would 
be  willing  to  co-operate  with  the  Protector. 

Parliament  met  on  September  3,  the  day  of  Dunbar 
and  Worcester.    The  Parliamentary  instinct  was  stron^^ 
in  this  assembly.   It  at  once  called  in  ques- 
f  6^Parlia-       ^^^^       Instrument  of  Government.  It  had 
mentary  op-  wish  to  ovcrthrow  the  Protector.    But  it 

position. 

demanded  that  the  terms  of  the  constitution 
should  be  settled  by  itself,  and  that  the  Protector  should  act 
under  limitations  imposed  upon  his  office  by  Parliament. 
It  was  no  merely  theoretical  constitutional  difference, 


The  Major-  Generals. 


177 


Oliver  was  good,  and  his  government  was  good,  but  he 
owed  his  position  to  mihtary  force.    If  mil-  ggp^^ 
Hary  force  was  to  settle  affairs  of  govern-     ?7-  Oliver's 

°  interference. 

ment  rightly  to-day,  it  might  settle  them 
wrongly  to-morrow.  England  would  for  ever  be  at  the 
mercy  of  those  who  held  the  sword.  Cromwell,  never- 
theless, had  something  to  say  for  himself.  If  Parliament 
settled  things  rightly  to-day,  it  too  might  settle  them 
wrongly  to-morrow.  If  it  was  to  do  as  it  pleased  in 
matters  of  religion,  toleration  would,  at  least  when  the 
twelve  years  of  exclusion  were  over,  be  abandoned 
by  a  large  majority.  Between  these  two  positions  there 
was  no  middle  term  attainable  then.  The  only  possible 
solution  lay  in  the  frank  acknowledgment  that  if  the 
nation  has  thoroughly  made  up  its  mind  to  do  wrong  it 
cannot  be  prevented  from  doing  so,  and  must  be  allowed 
to  learn  wisdom  from  experience.  Such  an  acknow- 
ledgment was  impossible  for  Oliver.  He  well  knew  that 
as  a  whole  the  nation  cared  nothing  for  toleration,  noth- 
ing, perhaps,  by  this  time,  for  Puritanism  itself.  He  had 
force  in  his  hands,  and  he  believed  that  its  possession 
was  a  token  of  Divine  favor.  Rather  than  see  the 
country  drift  back  into  misery  he  resolved  to  employ 
force.  Yet  he  tried  hard  to  veil  from  himself  and  from 
others  the  significance  of  his  act.  Parliament,  he  argued, 
had  been  elected  under  the  conditions  of  the  Instru- 
ment. Those  who  refused  to  acknowledge  by  their  sig- 
natures that  they  would  be  faithful  to  those  conditions, 
and  would  never  consent  to  alter  the  government  as  it 
was  settled  in  a  single  person  and  in  Parliament,  had  no 
business  there.  A  hundred  refused  to  sign  the  document 
presented  to  them,  and  to  allow  the  Divine  right  of  vic- 
tory any  more  than  they  were  ready  to  allow  the  Divine 
right  of  hereditary  kingship. 


Oliver  s  Protectorate.  i^SS- 


If  the  principal  conditions  of  the  Instrument  were 
raised  above  debate,  the  minor  conditions  were  still  as- 
sailable. In  spite  of  the  exclusion  of  the 
Jan!* 2^2^.^^  hundred,'  the  House  again  and  again  main- 
kitio?^^^^"  tained  its  view  that  Parliament  was  the  cen- 
tral point  round  which  the  constitution 
turned.  Again  and  again  it  voted  down  some  part  or 
other  of  the  authority  which  the  Protector  claimed.  Ol- 
iver could  bear  it  no  longer.  He  was  bound  by  the  In- 
strument to  allow  Parliament  to  sit  for  five  months.  He 
interpreted  the  article  to  mean  five  lunar  months,  and 
when  those  came  to  an  end,  on  January  22,  he  dissolved 
Parliament. 

Section  II. —  The  Major- Generals, 

Toleration  was  maintained  in  France  by  the  will  of  a 
Richelieu  or  a  Mazarin,  without  taking  root  in  the  in- 
stincts of  the  nation.  Something  of  the 
I)  ^  force^^^^^^'^  same  kind  seemed  likely  to  happen  in  Eng- 
land. For  though  the  dissolved  Parliament 
had  not  attacked  the  principle,  every  one  knew  that  this 
was  simply  because  it  did  not  fully  represent  the  nation. 
It  was  the  assurance  that  some  day  or  another  Parlia- 
ment would  speak  the  ideas  which  prevailed  around 
which  supplied  one  of  the  chief  motives  which  made 
Cromwell  shrink  from  entrusting  the  supreme  power  to 
a  Parliament. 

Happily  there  was  present  to  Englishmen  the  instinct 
or  consciousness — call  it  what  you  will — that  it  was 
better  for  a  nation  to  blunder  on,  making 
\  2-Resistance  mistakes   as  it   goes,   than   to  have  the 

to  Oliver.  o  ' 

most  excellent  arrangements  forced  upon 
it  by  external  violence.  Nor  must  it  be  forgotten 
that  even  Cromwell's  toleration  was  but  an  imperfect 


The  Major-  Genera/s, 


179 


toleration  after  all.  He  never  acknowledged  that  the 
old  Church  worship  was  anything  more  than  a  supersti- 
tion, to  be  contemptuously  allowed  permission  here  and 
there  to  gather  itself  into  private  houses  and  secret  meet- 
ing-places without  open  check,  but  not  to  be  permitted 
to  step  forward  into  the  light  of  day.  An  ever-abiding 
sense  of  wrong  stirred  up  the  indignation  of  men  who 
had  looked  back  with  regret  to  the  Church  observances 
which  had  been  familiar  to  them  in  youth.  Extempore 
prayer  offers  abundant  facilities  for  the  display  of  folly 
and  profanity  as  well  as  of  piety,  and  there  were  thou- 
sands who  contrasted  the  tone  and  language  of  the  new 
clergy  with  the  measured  devotion  of  the  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer,  altogether  to  the  advantage  of  the  latter. 
Church  and  king,  the  old  religious  forms,  and  the  old 
political  institutions  came  to  be  inextricably  fused  to- 
gether in  their  minds,  mingled  with  a  vague  and  inarti- 
culate sense  of  wrong  being  done  to  England  by  the 
openly  avowed  attempt  to  drive  her  by  force  when  argu- 
ment made  no  impression.  There  was  a  breadth  of 
view  and  a  keenness  of  vision  in  Oliver  which  had  no 
parallel  in  Charles,  and  the  principle  of  averting  doc- 
trinal tyranny  by  liberty  was  as  right  as  the  principle  of 
averting  it  by  ceremonial  uniformity  was  wrong.  But 
the  resolution  to  drive  those  who  would  not  be  guided 
was  the  same  in  both,  and  the  result  to  which  it  led  in 
Oliver's  case  v/as  as  disastrous  as  it  had  been  in  the  case 
of  Charles. 

At  Salisbury  the  seething  discontent  actually  burst  into 
a  flame.  A  gentleman  named  Penruddock,  with  a  force 
of  some  two  hundred  followers,  marched  . 

March  11. 

mto  the  city,  and  seized  the  judges  who  had  ^3-  Penrud- 
just  come  down  for  the  assizes.  It  was  °^  snsmg. 
madness  in  the  face  of  the  army,  and  the  insurgents 


i8o  Oliver"  s  Protectorate,  i^SS* 

were  soon  seized  and  the  movement  suppressed.  Oliver 
well  knew  that  if  the  rising  was  nothing  in  itself  it  was  a 
symptom  of  a  dangerous  hostility  to  his  government, 
widely  spread  through  the  country. 

Oliver  took  instant  measures  of  repression.  He  di- 
vided England  into  ten  military  districts.  Over  each 
,       .  he  set  a  Major-General  with  strict  military 

\  4.  Major-  ,  ^ 

Ge-ierais  ap-  powers  for  preserving  order.  The  expenses 
pointed.  were  to  be  paid  by  the  Royalists,  whose  dis- 

affection seemed  to  him  to  have  made  the  arrangement 
necessary.  Ten  per  cent,  was  levied  upon  their  incomes, 
by  the  Protector's  orders.  Military  rule  was  developing 
itself  more  clearly  every  day.  Everywhere  soldiers  were 
at  hand,  enforcing  obedience.  Obstacles  were  placed  in 
the  way  of  social  meetings,  at  which  plans  against  the 
Government  might  be  discussed.  Yet  if  the  power  ol 
the  Protector  rested  upon  force,  it  was  not  exercised  in 
any  violent  way.  No  compulsion  was  used,  beyond  thai 
which  the  exigencies  of  the  case  seemed  to  demand. 
Cruelty,  and  insult,  usually  more  provoking  than  cruelty, 
were  sedulously  avoided.  Leniency,  wherever  leniency 
was  possible,  was  the  rule  of  the  Protector's  action,  and 
if  there  were  many  who  were  exasperated  by  the  mode 
in  which  resistance  was  suppressed  and  by  the  trammels 
to  which  their  daily  life  was  subjected,  there  were  others 
who  recognized  the  good  intentions  of  the  Government, 
and  were  thankful  to  che  Protector  for  the  substantial 
justice  which  he  tried  to  afford  to  all,  when  once  the 
money  which  he  exacted  had  been  paid.  The  disposi- 
tion to  resist  a  power  based  upon  the  possession  of  the 
sword  was  balanced  by  a  disposition  to  submit  to  a 
power  which  used  its  authority  on  the  whole  so  wisely 
and  so  well. 

In  one  direction  Oliver  departed  from  his  policy  of 


1655-  The  Major- Generals.  181 

toleration.  He  had  made  up  his  mind  that  the  Common 
Prayer  Book  was  the  rallying  point  of  disaf-  ^ 
fection.  On  November  he  issued  orders  to  1 5-.  Episco- 
prohibit  its  use.  He  would  deal  with  the  shliTsup^^ 
worship  of  the  English  Church  as  the  Eng-  Pressed, 
lish  Church  had  dealt  with  the  older  forms  of  the  Mass. 
It  is  true  that  the  proclamation  was  not  rigorously  en- 
forced, and  that  zealous  congregations  continued  to 
meet  in  private.  "I  went  to  London,"  wrote  Evelyn,  a 
country  gentleman  of  studious  and  literary  tastes,  **to 
receive  the  blessed  Sacrament,  the  first  time  the  Church 
of  England  was  reduced  to  a  chamber  and  conventicle, 
so  sharp  was  the  persecution."  A  few  weeks  later  he 
notes  that  "  there  was  now  nothing  practical  preached 
or  that  pressed  reformation  of  life,  but  high  and  specu- 
lative points  and  strains  that  few  understood  which  left 
people  very  ignorant  and  of  no  steady  principles,  the 
source  of  all  our  sects  and  divisions,  for  there  was  much 
envy  and  uncharity  in  the  world ;  God  of  His  mercy 
amend  it!"  The  pure  doctrine  of  toleration  gave  way 
to  the  doctrine  that  religious  opinions  were  to  be  tolera- 
ted just  so  far  as  they  respected  the  authority  of  the 
State.  Men  who,  springing  from  the  various  sects  into 
which  the  force  of  Puritanism  was  splitting  up,  questioned 
in  any  way  the  authority  of  the  State,  were  silenced  or 
imprisoned. 

The  principles  which  prevailed  in  Oliver's  domestic 
government  gave  the  tone  to  his  foreign  policy.    In  the 
great  contest  which  was  going  on  between 
France  and  Spain,  he  saw  a  quarrel  between     ?  6  Quarrel 

^  ^  with  bpain. 

a  tolerant  and  intolerant  nation.  With 
Spain  he  had  a  quarrel  of  his  own.    Her  claim  to  exclude 
English  trade  and  colonization  from  America  was  as 
strongly  maintained  as  ever.    When  Cromwell  asked 


l82 


Oliver''  s  P7^otectorate, 


for  freedom  of  trade  in  the  Spanish  colonies,  and  for  the 
exemption  of  Enghsh  merchants  and  sailors  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Inquisition,  the  Spanish  ambassador 
flatly  rejected  his  demand.  "  It  is  to  ask,"  he  said,  "  for 
my  master's  two  eyes."  Oliver  fired  up  into  indignation. 
Already  he  had  sent  out  Penn  and  Venables  to  the  West 
Indies  to  seize  San  Domingo  in  reprisal  for  the  seizure 
by  Spain  of  EngUsh  islands  in  the  West  Indies,  and  had 
sent  Blake,  the  great  sea-captain,  into  the  Mediterranean 
to  demand  reparation  from  the  Algiers  and  Tunis  pirates 
who  had  been  preying  upon  the  English  commerce.  He 
now  offered  to  make  alliance  with  France. 

The  treaty  with  France  received  a  sudden  check. 
The  News  reached  England  that  the  Duke  of 

massacre  in  Savoy  had  been  persecuting  his  Vaudois 
Piedmont.  subjects,  whose  Protestantism  reached  back 
to  an  earlier  date  than  the  reformation.  Troops  had 
been  sent  into  the  valleys  where  they  lived,  those  who 
escaped  from  the  sword  were  conveyed  away  as  prisoners, 
or  were  driven  into  the  snow-clad  mountains  to  perish 
miserably  of  cold  and  hunger. 

Milton's  prayer  rose  to  heaven  : — 

Avenge,  O  Lord,  Thy  slaughtered  saints,  whose  bones 
Lie  scattered  on  the  Alpine  mountains  cold  ; 
Even  them  who  kept  Thy  truth  so  pure  of  old, 
When  all  our  fathers  worshipped  stocks  and  stones, 
Forget  not:  in  Thy  book  record  their  groans, 
Who  were  Thy  sheep,  and  in  their  ancient  fold, 
Slain  by  the  bloody  Piedmontese,  that  rolled 
Mother  with  infant  down  the  rocks.    Their  moans 
The  vales  redoubled  to  the  hills,  and  they 
To  heaven.    Their  martyred  blood  and  ashes  sovr 
O'er  all  the  Itahan  fields,  where  still  doth  sway 
The  triple  tyrant,  that  from  these  may  grow 
A  hundredfold,  who,  having  learnt  Thy  way, 
Early  may  fly  the  Babylonian  woe. 


1656.  Oliver' s  Second  Parliament. 


183 


Milton's  prayer  remained  unanswered.  The  saints 
remained  unavenged.  Italy  remained  unconverted.  But 
Cromwell  took  good  care  that  the  barbarity  should  not 
be  repeated.  France  was  plainly  told  that  if  he  wished 
for  the  English  alliance  this  persecution  must  stop.  The 
King  of  France  put  a  pressure  on  the  Duke  of  Savoy, 
•  and  liberty  of  worship  was  conceded  to  the  Vaudois. 
The  war  with  Spain  which  was  the  immediate  conse- 
quence, was  conducted  with  singular  courage  and  ability. 
If  Penn  and  Venables  failed  at  San  Domingo, 
they  secured  Jamaica.    Blake  dashed  into  l^-^^^ 

J  ^  ^  with  bpain. 

Tunis  harbor  and  burned  the  pirate  vessels 
in  spite  of  the  protection  of  the  forts.  On  his  return  he 
was  ordered  to  sail  about  the  coast  of  Spain,  to  pounce, 
if  possible,  upon  the  fleet  which  brought  home  to  Europe 
the  yearly  produce  of  the  American  silver  mines,  and  to 
do  what  mischief  he  could.  For  some  time  the  results 
were  not  apparent ;  but  Blake  held  his  own  at  sea,  and 
the  Spanish  fleet  dared  not  come  out  to  meet  him. 

Section  III. —  Oliver's  Second  Parliament, 

War  is  expensive,  and  though  Oliver  had  hitherto 
levied  taxes  by  his  own  unsupported  authority,  a  deficit 
of  /8oo,ooo  made  him  anxious  to  obtain 

'  A.  D.  1656. 

Parliamentary  assent  to  the  fresh  burden     Sep.  17. 
which  it  would  be  necessary  to  lay  upon  the  new'?aHia- 
nation.    Though  he   could  dispense  with 
Parliaments  as  readily  as  Charles,  he  had  not  Charles' 
indifference  to  the  weakness  caused  by  the  want  of 
Parliamentary  support.    He  knew  how  hard  the  work 
was  which  he  had  been  set  to  do,  and  knowing  as  he  did 
that  he  could  not  save  the  nation, — only  help  the  nation 
to  save  itself, — he  turned  wistfully,  half  wearily,  in  his 
thoughts,  to  that  great  representative  body  whose  co- 


i84 


Oliver  s  Protectorate. 


1656. 


operation  he  desired.  Once  more  he  summoned  a 
Parhament. 

On  September  17,  1656,  he  opened  the  session  with 
a  speech,  in  which  he  laid  bare  his  thoughts  about  Eng- 
land.   He  defended  the  war  against  Spain, 
1 2.  Oliver's      defended  too  his  promptness  of  action  in  sup- 

opening  speech.  ^  .  .  . 

pressing  domestic  broils.  But  it  was  when 
he  came  to  speak  of  his  principles  of  action  that  his 
heart  was  revealed.  "Our  practice,"  he  said,  "since 
the  last  Parliament  hath  been,  to  let  all  this  nation  see 
that  whatever  pretensions  to  religion  would  continue 
quiet,  peaceable,  they  should  enjoy  conscience  and 
liberty  to  themselves  ;  and  not  to  make  religion  a  pre- 
tence for  arms  and  blood."  After  all  that  had  passed, 
it  was  impossible  for  Oliver  to  look  with  equal  eyes  upon 
the  whole  range  of  Christian  life  and  thought.  To  him 
the  "  Cavalier  interest  "  was  but  "  the  badge  and  charac- 
ter of  countenancing  profaneness,  disorder  or  wicked- 
ness in  all  places,  and  whatever  is  most  of  kin  to  these 
and  what  is  Popery,  and  with  the  profane  nobihty  of  this 
nation."  The  old  attacks  upon  Puritanism  were  bitterly 
remembered — "  In  my  conscience  it  was  a  shame  to  be 
a  Christian,  within  these  fifteen,  sixteen,  or  seventeen 
years,  in  this  nation.  It  was  a  shame,  it  was  a  reproach 
to  a  man;  and  the  badge  of  Puritan  was  put  upon  it." 
Then  followed  words  of  warning — "  Make  it  a  shame  to 
see  men  bold  in  sin  and  profaneness,  and  God  will  bless 
you.  You  will  be  a  blessing  to  the  nation  ;  and  by  this 
will  be  more  repairs  of  breaches  than  by  anything  in  the 
world.  Truly  these  things  do  respect  the  souls  of  men, 
and  the  spirits, — which  are  the  men.  The  mind  is  the 
man  !  If  that  be  kept  pure,  a  man  signifies  somewhat ; 
if  not,  I  would  fain  see  w^hat  difference  there  is  betwixt 
him  and  a  beast.    He  hath  only  some  activity  to  do 


1656.  Oliver' s  Second  Parliament.  18 


some  more  mischief."  The  whole  spirit  of  Puritanism 
lay  in  these  words.  Milton's  "  Comus "  was  there 
translated  into  action.  The  weakness  of  Puritanism  was 
doubtless  there  too,  its  incapacity  to  conceive  that  men 
of  another  stamp  might  grow  in  spiritual  life  in  quite 
another  way,  and  its  consequent  failure  to  appreciate  the 
motives  by  which  large  numbers  of  Englishmen  had  been 
trained  to  virtue  by  the  influence  of  habitual  devotion  in 
its  ceremonial  form. 

It  was  not  to  such  that  Oliver  spoke.    They  were  ex- 
cluded from  his  Parliament,  and  others  were  excluded 
too.     About  a  hundred,  one-fourth  of  the 
assemblv,  were  refused  admittance.    It  was  ^3- Exclusion 

01  members. 

not  to  know  the  nation's  mind  that  Oliver 

had  called  this  Parliament  but  to  find  amongst  the  nation 

those  who  would  support  him  in  carrying  out  his  ideal  of 

government. 

Oliver's  second  Parliament  thus  purified  was  more 
disposed  to  support  him  than  his  first  had 
been.    Before  Ions:,  news  came  which  must  ^  4-  Capture  of 

^  a  bpanish  fleet. 

have  gone  far  to  strengthen  his  authority. 
Stayner,  with  part  of  Blake's  fleet,  had  fallen  in  with  the 
Spanish  treasure  ships  and  had  captured  the  costly  prize. 
Before  long,  thirty-eight  wagons  laden  with  Spanish 
silver  rolled  through  the  streets  of  London  to  the  Tower. 

The  relations  between  Protector  and  Parliament  were 
smooth  enough.    Money  was  voted,  and  Oliver  in  return 
withdrew  the  Major-Generals.    Then  came 
a  plot,  by  no  means  the  first,  for  the  murder       jan."  ^^^^* 
of  the  Protector,  the  detection  of  which  fer's^ale 
roused  the  Parliament  to  a  sense  of  the  in- 
security of  the  government,  all  resting  on  the  single  life 
of  Oliver.    The  Protector,  on  his  part,  had  reasons  for 
desiring  a  change.    Parliament  had  been  doing  things 
O 


i86 


Olive?-'  s  Protectorate. 


which  renewed  his  old  dread  of  the  despotism  of  a  single 
House.  One  James  Nayler,  a  mad  or  half-mad  fanatic, 
had  allowed  himself  to  be  worshipped  at  Bristol  and  in 
the  West  of  England,  Parliament  took  up  the  case, 
ordered  him  to  be  whipped,  branded,  bored  through  the 
tongue,  and  so  forth.  Oliver  interfered  with  protest. 
But  his  legal  power  was  slight,  and  he  was  likely  to 
welcome  any  change  which  would  stop  a  representative 
assembly  from  assuming  the  functions  of  a  judge. 

After  long  debate,  an  amended  constitution  was  voted 
V.)y  Parliament.    It  is  not  strange  if  the  remedy  for  the 
_  .     various  evils  which  were  dreaded  was  soueht 

1 6.  The  Peti-  .  ^ 

tion  and  in  some  return  to  the  lines  of  the  old  Con- 

stitution.  There  was  to  be  a  second  House 
to  revise  the  decisions  of  that  which  would  be  once  more 
the  House  of  Commons.  The  Council  of  State  went  into 
the  old  subordinate  position  of  the  Privy  Council,  and 
though  the  exclusion  of  the  Royalists  was  maintained, 
the  power  of  excluding  from  either  House  members  who 
had  been  duly  elected  was  taken  from  the  Protector. 
Oliver  had  the  right  of  naming  his  own  successor,  and  a 
fixed  and  permanent  sum  was  granted  to  him  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  army  and  navy.  Toleration  for  all 
peaceable  Christians  was  incorporated  with  the  Constitu- 
tion, but  from  this  toleration  Episcopalians  and  Roman 
Catholics  were  excluded. 

Thus  far  the  acknowledged  difficulties  of  the  political 
situation  had  led  to  a  drawing  back  towards  the  old  con- 
^    ^  stitutional  forms.     A  new  House  of  Lords 

f'usesthe  would  scrvc  as  a  check  upon  the  despotic 
title  of  king.  tendencies  of  the  House  of  Commons.  The 
Petition  and  Advice  went  further  still.  It  revived  the 
kingly  office  and  offered  the  title  to  Oliver-  After  some 
consideration  he  declined  the  title,  whilst  he  accepted 


1 6  5  7  •  Oliver' s  Second  Parliament.  1 8  7 


the  remainder  of  the  Petition  and  Advice.  On  June  26 
Ohver  was  installed  more  solemnly  than  before  as  Pro- 
tector, and  the  session  came  to  an  end. 

The  resistance  of  the  army  and  of  the  old  enemies  of 
Charles'  kingship  had  doubtless  the  very  greatest  weight 
in  Oliver's  determination  to  refuse  the  kingly 
title.    But  at  the  bottom  there  would  have  of  ti^rl^fu.^!. 
been  an  incongruity  in  his  assumption  of 
the  time-honored  name  which  could  not  fail  to  act  as  a 
deterrent.    A  king  owed  his  authority  to  ancient  tradi^ 
tion,  handed  down  from  former  generations.  Olivei' 
owed  his  authority  to  his  personal  qualities,  qualities  in 
which  his  successor  would  undoubtedly  be  far  behind 
him.    To  call  him  a  king  was  to  make  him  ridiculous  by 
bringing  into  men's  minds  a  set  of  ideas  quite  different 
from  those  which  would  naturally  apply  to  his  real 
position. 

If  this  was  true  of  Oliver's  kingship,  was  not  it  also 
true  of  the  new  Lords  ?  When  Parliament  met  again  on 
January  20,  the  composition  of  the  House  ^  ^  ^^^^ 
was  changed  in  two  ways.     Oliver's   chief  Jan.  20. 
supporters  had  been  removed  to  the  House  lution  of"' 
of  Lords,  and  the  excluded  members  were,  Parliament, 
by  the  terms  of  the  constitution,  re-admitted.    The  re- 
sult was  a  House  which  called  in  question  all  that  had 
been  done  in  the  preceding  session.    Throwing  them- 
selves upon  their  position  as  elected  representatives  of 
the  nation,  they  claimed  to  speak  in  its  name.  They 
rejected  the  new  House  of  Lords.  If  they  were  left  alone 
it  would  not  be  long  before  they  rejected  the  Protector  as 
well.    On  February  4,  after  a  speech  of  mingled  sad- 
ness and  indignation,  Oliver  dissolved  his  second  Parli- 
ament, as  he  had  dissolved  his  first.      The  Lord,"  he 
said,  "  judge  between  me  and  you." 


Oliver's  Protectorate.  1658. 


Section  IV. — Death  of  Oliver, 

As  FAR  as  the  present  moment  was  concerned  Oliver 
was  doubtless  in  the  right.  The  pretensions  of  the  Lower 
House  to  speak  in  the  name  of  the  English 

§  I.  Oliver's  .  ^      .  ^  ^  ^ 

system  nation  were  quite  as  ridiculous  as  the  pre- 

doomed.  tensions  of  the  Upper  House  to  drape  itself 
in  the  robes  of  the  House  of  Lords.  But  in  the  long  run 
the  deficiency  in  the  representative  character  of  all 
merely  Puritan  Parliaments  would  be  the  ruin  of  all  that 
either  party  was  striving  to  establish.  On  one  occasion 
Oliver  had  compared  himself  to  a  constable  set  to  keep 
order.  Higher  than  that  he  could  not  rise.  There  is 
something  mournful  in  his  last  appeal.  "  I  can  say  in 
the  presence  of  God,  in  comparison  with  whom  we  are 
but  like  poor  creeping  ants  upon  the  earth,  I  would  have 
been  glad  to  have  lived  under  any  woodside,  to  have 
kept  a  flock  of  sheep,  rather  than  undertaken  such  a  gov- 
ernment as  this."  Very  noble  was  the  ideal  which  he 
set  before  them.  To  maintain  right  and  justice,  to  take 
care  that  the  people  of  God,  as  he  termed  them,  were 
not  oppressed,  to  maintain,  with  any  limitations,  religi- 
ous liberty,  was  a  high  work.  But  the  nation,  as  a  na- 
tion, wanted  other  things  than  these.  It  wanted,  as  Oli- 
ver would  have  said,  to  go  back  to  the  fleshpots  of 
Egypt.  The  Puritan  rule  was  too  strict,  too  little  regard- 
ful of  human  weaknesses,  too  firmly  persuaded  that 
there  was  no  truth  and  no  godliness  outside  its  own  con- 
ceptions, to  impose  itself  by  force  for  ever  upon  a  great 
nation.  It  is  quite  true  that  the  highest  Puritan  minds 
were  not  morose,  or  disregardful  of  the  lighter  charms  of 
life.  But  there  w^as  a  seriousness  in  them  which  deep- 
ened in  lesser  men  into  congenial  sourness.  Men  missed 


1658.  Death  of  Oliver.  189 

the  cakes  and  ale,  the  dance  round  the  maypole,  the 
open  theatre,  and  all  the  various  modes  of  enjoyment 
which  they  had  loved  well  if  not  always  wisely.  They 
turned  savagely  upon  the  hypocrisy  which  waits  like  a 
dark  shadow  upon  religious  fervor,  and  upon  the 
frequent  use  of  cant  phrases  as  a  substitute  for  the  de- 
votion of  the  heart.  Oliver's  Parliaments,  Oliver  him- 
self, had  struck  no  root  into  the  national  mind.  His 
House  of  Lords,  his  House  of  Commons,  were  but  a 
mockery.  If  he  was  himself  no  mockery  it  was  because 
his  feet  were  firmly  planted  elsewhere  than  on  the  na- 
tion. His  strength  lay  in  the  army,  and  the  army  was 
a  grim  reality. 

His  last  days  were  days  of  external  victory  and  glory. 
In  1657  six  thousand  English  troops  had  taken  part  with 
France  in  her  war  against  Spain.    In  1658 
they  had  shared  in  the  victory  of  the  Dunes,     ?  2  Progress 

•'  01  the  war. 

and  had  called  forth  the  warmest  admiration 
of  the  French  generals  by  their  discipline  and  prowess. 
Dunkirk  was  captured  and  surrendered  to  Oliver  as  the 
price  of  his  assistance.  But  at  home  the  Protector  had 
difficulties  enough.  Many  of  his  old  companions  looked 
sourly  upon  him.  There  were  plots  to  murder  him,  plots 
to  bring  back  the  king,  plots  to  establish  a  common- 
wealth. Oliver  kept  them  all  down  with  a  tight  hand.  In 
the  summer  there  was  talk  again  of  another  Parliament. 
Doubtless  it  would  but  have  ended  in  the  same  way  as 
the  former  ones.  No  assembly  would  ever  be  brought 
to  acknowledge  that  the  power  of  the  sword  might  fairly 
be  thrown  into  the  balance  of  its  deliberations.  No  cir- 
cumstances would  bring  the  Protector  to  acknowledge 
that  an  assembly  could  wisely  be  entrusted  with  irrespon- 
sible government. 

Oliver  was  spared  the  years  of  weariness  which  seemed 


190 


Olive?''  s  Protectorate. 


to  lie  before  him.  His  work,  full  of  instruction  as  it  was 
Aug  6  generations  to  come,  had  been  ac- 

^  3.  Oliver's  complished  as  far  as  that  generation  was 
concerned.  On  August  6  he  lost  his  favor- 
ite daughter.  Though  he  was  but  fifty-nine,  his  health, 
worn  by  long  care  and  anxiety,  was  beginning  to  fail. 
On  the  2 1st  a  change  for  the  worse  took  place.  There 
were  men  in  England  who  knew  what  his  value  was. 
"  Prayers  abundantly  and  incessantly  poured  forth  on  his 
behalf,  both  publicly  and  privately,  as  was  observed,  in 
a  more  than  ordinary  way."  It  was  all  in  vain.  For  days 
he  lay  on  his  bed  of  sickness,  pouring  out  his  soul  to 
God.  There  were  times  when  old  doubts  stole  over  his 
mind.  It  is  a  fearful  thing,"  he  repeated  again  and 
again,  **  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God."  Then 
the  clouds  would  pass  away  in  the  light  of  self-forget - 
fulness.  "  All  the  promises  of  God  are  in  Him,  yea,  and 
in  Him,  Amen,  to  the  glory  of  God  by  us,  by  us  in 
Jesus  Christ."  "  The  Lord  hath  filled  me  with  as  much 
assurance  of  His  pardon  and  His  love  as  my  soul  can 
hold.  I  think  I  am  the  poorest  wretch  that  lives  ;  but  I 
love  God ;  or  rather  am  beloved  of  God.  I  am  a  con- 
queror, and  more  than  a  conqueror,  through  Christ  that 
strengtheneth  me." 

On  August  30  a  mighty  storm  swept  over  England. 
The  devil,  said  the  cavaliers,  was  fetching  home  the  soul 
of  the  tyrant..    Oliver  little  recked  of  their 

Sept.  3.  . 

1 4.  Oliver's  sayings  now.  The  winds  howled  around, 
death.  j^.^  voicc  found  uttcrancc  in  one  last  prayer 

of  faith:  Lord,"  he  cried,  "  though  I  am  a  miserable 
and  wretched  creature,  I  am  in  covenant  with  Thee 
through  grace.  And  I  may,  I  will  come  to  Thee,  for  Thy 
people.  Thou  hast  made  me,  though  very  unworthy,  a 
mean  instrum.ent  to  do  them  some  good,  and  Thee  ser- 


1658.  Death  of  Olive?'.  1 9 1 

vice  ;  and  many  of  them  have  set  a  high  value  upon  me, 
though  others  wish  and  would  be  glad  of  my  death. 
Lord,  however  Thou  do  dispose  of  me,  continue  and 
go  on  to  do  good  to  them.  Give  them  consistency  of 
judgment,  one  heart,  and  mutual  love  ;  and  go  on  to 
deliver  them,  and  with  the  work  of  reformation  ;  and 
make  the  name  of  Christ  glorious  in  the  world.  Teach 
those  who  look  too  much  on  Thy  instruments,  to  de- 
pend more  upon  Thyself.  Pardon  such  as  desire  to 
trample  upon  the  dust  of  a  poor  worm,  for  they  are  Thy 
people  too.  And  pardon  the  folly  of  this  short  prayer  : 
even  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake.  And  give  us  a  good  night, 
if  it  be  Thy  pleasure.  Amen."  For  three  more  days 
Oliver  lingered  on.  September  3  came  —the  day  of  Dun- 
bar and  Worcester.  In  the  afternoon  the  brave  spirit 
passed  away  to  the  rest  which  it  had  never  known  upon 
^,arth. 


CHAPTER  X. 

END  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 

Section  I. — Anarchy. 

VViTH  Oliver's  death  the  Puritan  Revolution  had  ful- 
filled its  appointed  destiny.  Starting  from  a 
double  origin — the  political  desire  to  make  ?  i-  i^eview 

<=>  i-  o  the  past. 

the  will  of  the  nation  paramount  over  the  will 
of  the  Court,  and  the  religious  desire  to  keep  Protestant- 
ism pure  from  the  Laudian  innovations — the  Long  Par- 
liament had  been  completely  successful  in  overpowering 
the  king.    But  the  existence  of  differences  of  religious 


192 


End  of  the  Revolution. 


1658. 


opinion  in  the  ranks  of  the  Long  Parhament  itself  and  in 
its  most  attached  followers  gave  rise  to  new  difficulties. 
If  things  had  been  left  to  take  their  natural  course 
nothing  would  have  been  heard  of  toleration  for  many 
a  long  year.  The  fact  that  those  who  wielded  the  sword 
btood  in  need  of  toleration  compelled  the  nation  to  listen 
to  their  claims.  The  permission  for  the  free  development 
of  diversity  of  religious  opinion  was  extorted  by  force 
and  not  conceded  to  reason.  It  would  be  in  the  highest 
degree  unjust  to  compare  Cromwell  with  Richelieu.  The 
great  Protector  never  sat  down  in  calm  satisfaction  that 
the  nation  was  as  clay  in  the  hands  of  a  potter.  He 
yearned  for  co-operation,  for  life  in  all  its  forms,  religious 
and  political.  The  early  history  of  the  English  people 
had  not  been  wasted  upon  him.  He  was  of  the  race 
which  had  looked  up  to  Simon  de  Montfort  and  Edward 
I.,  not  of  the  race  which  had  looked  up  to  Charles  V.  and 
Lewis  XII.  For  all  that  he  was  aiming  at  the  impossi- 
ble. He  had  placed  his  standard  too  high  for  those  who 
lived  with  him  to  follow.  The  day  would  come  when  the 
nation  would  appreciate  his  greatness.  For  the  time  it 
resolutely  refused  to  be  transformed  after  his  ideal. 

Oliver's  Protectorate  had  been  founded  on  the  sym- 
pathies of  the  army,  and  of  the  lawyers  and  statesmen, 
who  saw  nothing  but  tyranny  and  confusion 
f  2°'Rfch-  predominance  of  a  single  House  of 

ard's  Pro-       Parhament.    The  lawyers   and  statesmen 

tcctorate.  -r^ .  -,       1  i  i 

gathered  around  his  son  Richard,  named  by 
OHver  on  his  deathbed  as  his  successor.  On  Jan.  27, 
1659,  a  new  Parliament  met  round  the  new  Protector. 

Richard,  peaceable  and  sluggish,  was  the  very  man  to 
be  moulded  to  the  wishes  of  the  lawyers  and  the  states- 
men. But  the  army  knew  him  not.  His  father  had  led 
them  in  peace  and  war,  had  watched  with  them  under 


Anarchy. 


^93 


the  heights  of  Dunbar,  had  triumphed  with  them  within 
the  walls  of  Worcester.    Their  dissatisfac- 
tion  was  directed  not  agamst  the  Frotecto-  April  22. 
rate  system  or  the  Parliamentary  system,  but  Lent^l?^' 
against  the  authority  of  the  civil  power.  ^^^^^^^J 
They  demanded  a  control  over  the  appoint- 
ment of  officers,  and  to  choose  Fleetwood,  Oliver's  son- 
in-law,  as  their  general-    Parliament  of  course  upheld 
the  authority  of  the  civil  power  over  the  army.  On  April 
22  the  soldiers  dissolved  the  Parliament  and  abolished 
the  Protectorate.  Richard  Cromwell  made  no  resistance, 
and  his  father's  whole  political  system  was  scattered  to 
the  winds. 

The  soldiers  did  not  venture  to  govern  England  in 
their  own  name.    A  few  of  those  members  of  the  House 
of  Commons  who  had  sat  to  the  end  of  the 
Long  Parliament  when  it  was  expelled  in  ^4?^  The 
1653  were  still  to  be  found  in  London.    The  ^enfTgain.' 
poor  remains  of  a  once  powerful  assembly — 
the  Rump,  as  men  called  them  in  derision — took  their 
seats  once  more  under  the  protection  of  the  army.  They 
were  but  forty-two  in  number.    Lenthall  was  replaced 
in  the  chair.    No  legitimist  king  ever  showed  himself 
more  tenacious  of  his  rights  than  they.    They  took  a 
high  tone  with  the  officers,  told  them  "  that  the  Parlia- 
ment expected  faithfulness  and  obedience  to  the  Parlia- 
ment and  Commonwealth,"  spoke  of  all  acts  done  under 
Oliver's  orders  as  legally  invalid,  and  expressed  a  reso- 
lution to  hold  all  persons  who  had  collected  taxes  for  the 
Protector  as  responsible  for  their  payment  afresh.  The 
officers  were  naturally  indignant.       I  know  not,"  said 
Lambert,  *^why  they  should  not  be  at  our  mercy  as  well 
as  we  at  theirs." 

The  inevitable  conflict  was  postponed  for  a  time  by  a 


194 


End  of  the  Revolution, 


Royalist  insurrection.    The  army  had  not  yet  lost  its 
vigor.    The  rebellion  was  beaten  down  by  Lambert  at 
Winnington  Bridge.    The  officers  came  back  with  high 
demands,  which  the  Parliament  refused  to 

5-  The  re-  at  •  i 

stored  Par-  grant.  As  the  members  arrived  at  Wesl- 
peJs?d  minster,  on  October  13,  they  found  the  ap- 

proaches guarded  by  troops,  who  refused 
them  admission  to  the  House.  "  Do  you  not  know  me  ?" 
said  Lenthall.  "If  you  had  been  with  us  at  Winnington 
Bridge,"  was  the  answer,  "  we  should  have  known  you." 

The  rough  words  painted  the  situation.  It  was  no 
longer  the  army  demanding  political  power  because  it 
was  wiser  and  more  thoughtful  than  other 
msolence^'^^  classcs.  It  was  the  contempt  of  the  military 
element  for  the  civilian.  Fortunately  for  the 
world  no  army,  however  excellently  trained  and  dis- 
ciplined, can  maintain  itself  at  the  head  of  a  nation  on 
such  terms  as  these.  Armies  are  composed  of  men  after 
all,  and  they  will  not  cling  together  unless  there  be  some 
mind  to  direct  them,  or  some  common  object  to  pursue. 
Without  Oliver  even  that  army  was  bound  together  but  by 
a  rope  of  sand.  All  that  it  had  to  ask  was  that  it  should 
not  be  subject  to  any  civil  authority.  Even  in  its  own 
ranks  there  were  found  those  who  shrunk  from  defying 
their  countrymen  on  such  ground.  The  garrison  of 
Portsmouth  declared  against  the  officers  in  London.  In 
London  itself  the  soldiers  discovered  that  they  had  been 
less  regularly  paid  since  their  officers  had  taken  the 
government  into  their  own  hands.  On  Dec.  24  they 
once  more  drew  Lenthall  from  his  retirement.  On  the 
26th  the  Rump  was  brought  back  for  a  second  restora- 
tion of  power,  and  resumed  its  sittings  at  Westminster  as 
if  nothing  had  happened  to  ruffle  its  serenity. 


/66o. 


The  Restoration. 


I9S 


Section  II. —  The  Restoration. 
Men  who  had  hitherto  shown  Httle  inclination  to  favor 
the  Royal  cause  were  growing  sick  of  being  subject  to 
the  caprices  of  a  domineering  soldiery.  Nor 
was  this  feelino;;  unknown  in  the  ranks  of  \  ^c^^?,"^  ^ 

^  in  Scotland. 

the  army  itself.  George  Monk,  who  com- 
manded the  English  forces  in  Scotland,  was  a  cool,  taci- 
turn man,  without  passion  or  enthusiasm.  He  had  served 
the  king  in  the  early  part  of  the  civil  war,  and  had  then 
passed  over  to  the  side  of  the  Parliarrient.  Blind  to  the 
higher  side  of  Oliver's  nature,  he  had  served  him  faith- 
fully in  his  effort  to  maintain  order,  and  he  knew,  as 
neither  Lambert  nor  Fleetwood  seemed  to  know,  that  the 
government  of  a  great  kingdom  cannot  be  carried  on  as 
a  mere  appendage  to  the  military  duties  of  a  commander- 
in-chief.  As  long  as  Richard  Cromwell  retained  his  au- 
thority. Monk  seconded  him  loyally.  "  Richard  Crom- 
well," he  afterwards  said,  forsook  himself,  else  had  I 
never  failed  my  promise  to  his  father  or  regard  to  his 
memory." 

As  soon  as  Monk  heard  that  the  officers  had  dissolved 
Richard's  government  he  prepared  for  action.  Gather- 
ing a  Convention  of  the  Scottish  Estates,  he 
obtained  from  them  a  vote  of  money.    On  ^^^Hi?^' 
New  Year's  Day,  1660,  he  crossed  the  Bor-  march  into 

1  X  1  T      X-  •  r  England. 

der.  On  Jan.  1 1  he  was  met  by  Fairfax  at 
York,  who  brought  with  him  all  the  weight  of  his  unstained 
name  and  his  high  military  reputation.  In  the  negotia- 
tions which  followed  Monk  showed  a  great  dislike  of  any 
change  which  would  threaten  the  material  and  spir- 
itual interests  which  had  grown  up  since  the  beginning 
of  the  civil  war.  He  objected  to  the  return  to  Parlia- 
ment of  the  Presbyterian  members  excluded  by  Pride's 


196 


End  of  the  Revolutioii. 


1660. 


Purge,  and  to  the  return  of  the  king,  as  both  would  be 
animated  by  hostihty  to  those  who  had  risen  under  the 
existing  order  of  things. 

On  Feb.  3  Monk  entered  London.  Whatever  he 
might  think  about  the  king's  return,  he  had  no  enthu- 
siasm in  his  composition.  He  was  not  the 
L^London.  "^^^  ^^^^  active  part  against  a  possi- 
ble government,  and  he  refused  to  take  an 
oath  of  abjuration  of  the  House  of  Stuart.  He  wished  first, 
he  said,  to  know  the  grounds  on  which  it  was  tendered  to 
him.  Matters  were  soon  brought  to  a  crisis  by  a  resolution 
taken  on  Feb.  8  by  the  City  of  London.  They  declared 
that,  as  no  members  for  the  City  were  amongst  the  forty- 
two  who  were  governing  England  by  so  strange  a  title, 
they  would  pay  no  taxes.  Taxation  must  follow  repre- 
sentation. Monk  was  ordered  to  suppress  the  resistance. 
Marching  into  the  City,  he  enforced  his  will  for  a  mo- 
ment upon  the  citizens.  But  the  sight  of  London  spurn- 
ing the  yoke  of  the  Rump  convinced  him,  if  he  was  not 
convinced  before,  that,  whatever  else  happened,  the 
Rump  could  not  continue  to  give  laws  to  England. 

Monk  had  eatered  the  City  on  the  loth.  In  the  eve- 
ning he  called  a  council  of  his  officers,  and  obtained 
,    ^  ,         their  approbation  to  a  letter  which  he  had 

^  4.  Declares  ^  ^  .        i  •  -i   i  i 

for  a  free  Written  to  the  Housc,  m  which  he  demanded 
Parliament.  issuc  of  writs  to  fill  Up  the  vacant  seats 

within  eight  days,  and  a  dissolution  by  May  6.  Next 
morning  the  news  was  received  with  enthusiasm  in  the 
City.  That  night  every  street  was  ablaze  with  bonfires. 
That  there  might  be  no  mistake  about  the  meaning  of 
the  display,  rumps  were  roasted  over  the  fires  and  car- 
ried about  the  streets  in  derision. 

The  writs  for  fresh  elections  were  not  issued.  Ano- 
ther way  of  coercing  the  Rump  was  found.    On  Febru' 


i66o. 


The  Restoration, 


197 


ary  26  the  excluded  Presbyterian  members  , 

11-  •     ■  ^  March  16. 

took  their  seats.    The  majority  passed  at     ^5.  End  of 
once  to  their  side.    A  dissolution,  to  be  fol-  Parurment. 
lowed  by  new  elections,  was  voted  without 
further  difficulty.    On  March  16  the  Long  Parliament 
came  by  its  own  act  to  its  unhonored  end. 

The  Restoration  was  now  a  foregone  conclusion.  The 
one  predominant  feehng  of  Englishmen  was  to  escape 
from  the  rule  of  the  soldiers;  and  every 

go.  The 

recently-introduced  form  of  civil  govern-  Restoration 
ment  having  been  alike  discredited,  it  was 
natural  to  turn  back  to  that  form  under  which  the  nation 
had  flourished  for  centuries,  and  which  had  fallen  rather 
from  the  personal  faults  of  the  last  king  than  from  the 
inherent  vices  of  the  system. 

The  Declaration  of  Breda  converted  the  chances  of 
the  Restoration  into  a  certainty.    In  this  celebrated  ad- 
dress Charles  offered  a  general  pardon  to 
all  who  were  not  specially  excepted  by  Par-  f^^The  De- 
liament.    The  material  interests  which  had  Breda.°''°^ 
grown  up  during  the  Revolution  were  placed 
in  safety  by  a  clause  assuring  the  retention  of  confiscated 
estates  by  their  actual  holders.    Spiritual  interests  were 
not  forgotten.    The  Cromwelhan  doctrine  that  no  man 
should  be  called  in  question  for  differences  of  opinion  so 
long  as  he  did  not  disturb  the  peace  of  the  kingdom  was 
embodied  in  the  manifesto  of  a  Restoration. 

On  April  14  the  new  Parliament  met.  It  had  been 
freely  chosen  without  regard  for  the  old  Royalist  dis- 
qualifications, which  the  Rump,  by  its  last 

,      ,  -,  .       .  ,  .         3  8.  The  Res- 

act,  had  attempted  to  maintain.    The  king  toration. 

was  at  once  recalled.  On  May  25  Charles 

landed  at  Dover,  amidst  applauding  crowds.    On  the 

29th,  the  day  of  his  birth,  he  entered  London.    The  sol- 


End  of  /he  Revolution. 


1660. 


diers  of  the  Parliamentary  army  were  drawn  up  on 
Blackheath  to  receive  him.  With  their  leaders  divided 
their  power  was  gone,  and  they  submitted  to  be  dis- 
banded and  to  leave  the  care  of  the  commonwealth  to 
others. 

Section  III. —  The  Ecclesiastical  Settlement  of  the 
Restoration. 

The  Government,  as  established  by  the  Restoration,  at- 
tempted to  give  effect  to  the  political  principles  adopted 
in  1641.    In  recalling-  Charles  Parliament 

^  I.  King  ^ 

and  the  Par-  had  rcsolvcd  that  the  government  of  Eng- 
lament.  land  Consisted  of  King,  Lords  and  Com- 

mons. Not  one  of  these  constituent  parts  was  to  act  in 
total  independence  of  the  other.  The  objections  raised 
by  Oliver  against  an  irresponsible  House  of  Commons 
were  admitted  as  valid  by  the  statesmen  of  the  Res- 
toration. 

Oliver's  principle  of  religious  toleration  fared  worse. 
Enshrined  in  the  Declaration  of  Breda,  it  had  no  place 
as  yet  in  the  hearts  of  the  English  people, 
giourtole-^  In  their  minds  it  was  connected  with  the 
ration.  domination  of  the  army  and  with  the  rude 

harangues  of  uneducated  and  fanatical  preachers.  The 
Bishops  were  re-established,  and  the  Common  Prayer 
book  was  brought  back  with  general  satisfaction.  Pen- 
alties the  most  severe  were  placed  upon  those  who  ven- 
tured to  use  any  other  form  of  worship.  If  the  king  did 
not  throw  himself  heart  and  soul  into  the  repression  as 
his  father  had  done,  he  offered  no  resistance.  Never  had 
the  cause  of  religious  liberty  seemed  more  hopeless. 
Laud  and  Charles  I.  might  be  resisted.  But  who  should 
resist  a  persecuting  nation  ? 

In  this  apparent  hopelessness  lay  the  brightest  hopes 


1 660-5 .       The  Ecclesiastical  Settlement. 


199 


for  the  future.    The  Laudian  system  had  been  main^ 
tained  by  the  authority  of  the  few  over  the       ^  Hopes 
many.    The  Puritan  system  had  been  main-     for  the 
tained  by  the  armed  strength  of  the  few  " 
over  the  many.    The  rule  of  a  minority  must  ever  be 
watchful,  ever  on  its  guard  against  hidden  dangers,  ever 
keeping  the  hand  upon  the  bridle.    The  rule  of  the 
many  brings  with  it  a  feeling  of  security. 

For  a  few  years  after  the  Restoration  the  dread  of  a 
possible  rising  of  Oliver's  old  soldiers  was  too  keen  to 
make  it  likely  that  the  reins  would  soon  be  1660-5. 
loosely  held.    The  Cavalier  Parliament —  igtinsfthe 
the  Long  Parliament  of  the  Restoration,  as  it  Nonconfor- 

,  -  mists. 

IS  sometimes  called — passed  act  after  act 
against  those  Puritans  who  refused  to  conform  to  the 
Established  Church.  On  August  24,  1662,  the  Noncon- 
formist clergy  were  expelled  from  their  livings.  In  1664 
the  Conventicle  Act  visited  with  fine,  imprisonment,  or 
transportation,  all  persons  meeting  together  for  religious 
purposes  without  public  authority.  In  1665  the  Five 
Mile  Act  forbade  the  ejected  ministers  to  live  within  five 
miles  of  any  corporate  town,  or  to  keep  schools  where 
the  young  might  be  bred  up  in  their  principles. 

One  notable  change  in  language  testifies  to  the  feeling 
raised  by  the  irresistible  power  of  a  Parliamentary  per- 
secution.   The  names  of  Puritan  and  Non-  ^  ^  Noncon- 
conformist  begin  to  drop  out  of  sight.    The  ^•J^gnters''^ 
name  of  Dissenter  begins  to  be  heard.  The 
Nonconformist  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  claimed  to 
take  his  place  within  the  Church  system,  and  to  modify 
it  as  far  as  he  was  able.    The  Dissenter  of  the  reign  of 
Charles  II.  was  contented  to  stand  outside  it,  to  leave 
the  Church  of  the  nation  to  go  on  its  own  way,  whilst 
pleading  for  toleration  for  the  minority  which  differed 


2  00 


End  of  the  Revolution. 


t66i. 


from  the  dominant  religion.  No  doubt  some  time  would 
elapse  before  this  change  of  position  was  generally  un- 
derstood ;  but  there  could  be  little  doubt  that,  when  once 
it  was  understood,  the  way  to  toleration  would  become 
comparatively  smooth.  Men  who  would 'hesitate  to  yield 
to  their  opponents  a  vantage  ground  from  which  to  work 
a  change  in  the  religion  of  the  country,  would  not  be 
likely  to  be  very  stubborn  in  refusing  to  the  Dissenters 
rights  which  would  not  in  any  way  affect  their  own  Church. 

Many  years,  however,  must  elapse  before  the  change 
in  the  ecclesiastical  position  of  the  Dissenters  could  be 
felt  or  understood.  At  present  the  estrange- 

A.D,   1661.  -Ill  r  1 

1 6.  The  ment  caused  by  the  memory  of  the  wrongs 
Act?^°'^^^^°'^  done  and  suffered  in  the  religious  quarrel 
was  embittered  by  a  political  difference. 
The  governing  classes  of  the  nation  had  rallied  to  the 
doctrine  of  non-resistance  ;  that  is  to  say,  to  the  doctrine 
that  under  no  conceivable  circumstances  was  forcible 
resistance  to  the  king  permissible.  The  resolution  of 
Parliament  to  maintain  this  doctrine  had  found  expres- 
sion in  the  Corporation  Act,  passed  in  1661,  before  the 
ecclesiastical  measures  of  repression  had  come  into  ex- 
istence. By  that  Act,  all  bearers  of  office  in  corporate 
towns  were  compelled  to  take  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  according  to  the  rites  of  the  Church  of 
England,"  to  renounce  the  Covenant,  and  that  ''traitor- 
ous position  of  the  legahty  of  taking  arms  by  the  king's 
authority  against  himself  or  his  officers." 

If  Parliament  had  been  content  to  ask  the  Dissenters 
to  promise  to  abstain  from  taking  arms  against  the 
Crown,  it  is  probable  that  few  would  have 
\  7-        r      refused  compliance.    It  would  have  seemed 

doctrine  of 

non-resist-       hardly  worth  while  to  forsake  the  position  ot 
loyal  subjects,  when  the  chances  of  success- 


1667.  The  Ecclesiastical  Settlement. 


201 


ful  resistance  had  become  so  extremely  slight,  and  when 
past  resistance  had  led  to  consequences  so  distasteful  to 
most  of  those  from  whom  it  had  proceeded.  But  those 
who  still  cherished  the  memories  of  Marston  Moor  and 
Naseby  could  but,  as  honest  men,  give  an  unqualified 
contradiction  to  the  doctrine  that  any  human  person  was 
placed  entirely  above  the  control  of  his  fellow-men. 
Those  who  refused  to  make  the  required  declaration 
handed  down  to  following  generations  the  great  princi- 
ple that  no  position  is  so  exalted  as  to  render  him  who 
occupies  it  entirely  irresponsible.  But  in  the  midst  of 
the  exuberant  loyalty  around  them  they  became  for  the 
time  outcasts  from  the  common  life  of  the  nation. 

The  reaction  against  Puritanism  showed  itself  in  other 
ways  than  in  the  invention  of  new  political  and  ecclesias- 
tical watchwords.  Licentiousness  came  into 
fashion.    In  Charles  II.  Comus  seemed  to  }^^zx2.- 
have  seated  himself  upon  the  throne  of  Eng-  ^ise  Lost." 
land.    The  poet  of  Comus,  old  and  blind, 
poured  forth  the  great  epic  of  Puritanism,  "  Paradise 
Lost,"  in  which  the  interest  is  concentrated  not,  as  in 
the  Iliad,  upon  warring  armies ;  or,  as  in  the  Odyssey, 
upon  the  fortunes  and  achievements  of  a  hero  ;  or,  as  in 
the  ^neid,  on  the  foundation  of  an  empire ;  but  on  the 
War  waged  by  heavenly  and  infernal  powers  for  the 
^maintenance  or  destruction  of  the  purity  of  a  single  hu- 
man soul.  Once  more  he,  who  in  his  youth  had  declared 
that  outward  beauty  was  but  the  expression  of  internal 
purity,  stepped  forward  to  develop  at  yet  greater  length 
his  high  theme,  and  to  adjure  men  by  the  example  of 
their  first  ancestor  to  guard  the  fortress  of  their  purity 
against  the  assaults  of  temptation. 

Equally  distinctive  with  the  Puritanism  of  "  Paradise 
Lost"  is  the  Puritanism  of  "Paradise  Regained."  The 
P 


202 


End  of  the  Revolution. 


instinct  of  Christendom  has  fixed  upon  the  Saviour's 
death  upon  the  cross  as  the  central  point  of 
l^'j^'^plra-  work  of  redemption.    There  have  been 

dise  Re-         those  who  have  dwelt  upon  the  physical 

gamed.  ^  ^  ^ 

suffering,  upon  the  crown  of  thorns,  the 
lacerated  body.  There  have  been  those  who  have  dwelt 
upon  the  sacrifice  of  the  will  and  heart  which  lay  be- 
neath the  sacrifice  of  the  body.  Milton  turns  aside  from 
the  cross  to  tell  of  the  resistance  to  temptation  in  the 
wilderness,  to  the  original  defiance  to  the  seductive  al- 
lurements of  evil  which  found  its  weak  and  imperfect 
copy  in  that  moment  of  conversion  which  was  the  corner- 
stone of  the  Puritan  framework  of  Christian  life  for  err- 
ing, fallible  men.  In  Paradise  Lost,"  when  Michael 
prepares  to  conduct  Adam  away  from  the  Eden  he  has 
forfeited,  he  tells  him  that  the  true  Paradise  lies  within. 
'*Only  add,"  he  says — 

"  Deeds  to  thy  knowledge  answerable;  add  faith; 
Add  virtue,  patience,  temperance ;  add  love, 
By  name  to  come  called  charity,  the  soul 
Of  all  the  rest :  then  wilt  thou  not  be  loth 
To  leave  this  Paradise,  but  shalt  possess 
A  Paradise  within  thee,  happier  far." 

The  same  thought  appears  at  the  close  of  "  Paradise 
Regained."  "  Now,"  sing  the  angels  over  Him  who  had 
been  victor  over  temptation — 

^'  Now,  thou  hast  avenged 
Supplanted  Adam,  and  by  vanquishing 
Temptation  hast  regained  lost  Paradise." 

Here  too  victory  over  sin  is  but  the  beginning  of  active 
work.  To  the  true  Puritan,  conversion  was  the  gate 
through  which  the  Christian  life  was  entered.   The  song 


1667.  The  Ecclesiastical  Seitlement.  203 


of  the  angels  in  '^Paradise  Regained"  is  true  to  this 
part  of  the  Puritan  ideal  in  its  closing  strains  : — 

"  Hail,  Son  of  the  Most  High,  Heir  of  both  Worlds, 
Queller  of  Satan  !  On  thy  glorious  work 
Now  enter,  and  begin  to  save  Mankind." 

How  far  away  is  all  this  from  the  ideal  of  the  other  great 
Christian  poet,  the  interpreter  of  the  thought  and  aspi- 
rations of  the  Middle  Ages.  To  Dante,  weary  through 
the  weakness  of  the  flesh  in  the  contemplation  of  the 
justice  of  God,  the  complete  submission  of  the  will  and 
heart  seems  to  be  the  final  close  of  a  life  of  bitter  expe- 
rience and  imperfect  striving  after  good.  Admitted  in 
the  end  to  look  upon  the  mysteries  of  the  Godhead,  his 
vision  fails  -and  his  tongue  falters,  till,  as  he  tells  us, 
"  the  Love  which  moves  the  sun  and  the  stars  turned  my 
desire  and  my  will  as  a  wheel  which  moves  concor- 
dantly  "  with  that  of  the  Divine  Sustainer  of  the  world. 
So  ends  the  great  mediaeval  poem.  To  the  Catholic 
Dante  the  complete  submission  of  the  individual  human 
will  to  the  Divine  will  is  the  final  end  and  complete 
consummation  of  the  Christian  life,  beyond  which  no 
work  is  conceivable  as  proceeding  from  the  individual 
man.  To  the  Puritan  Milton  the  submission  of  the  indi- 
vidual human  will  to  the  Divine  will  was  the  beginning 
of  the  work. 

The  special  opinions  of  the  Puritans  and  the  special 
ecclesiastical  forms  in  which  those  opinions  found  ex- 
pression might  sink  out  of  sight,  or  might       ,  ^, 

.  g  10.  Ihe 

become  the  cherished  treasures  of  a  faithful     future  of 
few.    But  the  spirit  of  Puritanism  would  not  Puritanism, 
die.    The  seriousness  of  mind  which  draws  its  motive 
of  action  from  its  own  high  conception  of  duty,  and 
which  issues  in  untiring  activity  for  the  public  good,  has 


204  End  of  the  Rcvolittiop.,  1 6  7 1 . 

never  ceased  to  be  an  element  of  the  national  character, 
alongside  with  the  love  of  routine  and  of  the  formal 
observances  of  life,  the  respect  for  law  and  precedent  in 
Church  and  State,  and  the  submission  of  personal  and 
party  aims  to  the  expressed  will  of  the  community. 

Milton  died  in  confidence  that  the  future  would  do 
him  justice.    In  "  Samson  Agonistes  "  he  flung  his  defi- 
ance in  the  face  of  the  triumphant  powers  of 

A.  D.  167I.  .  . 

g  II.  y  Samson  evil.    For  himself  there  was  no  more  hope. 
Agonistes.       Formality  in  the  Church,  riot  in  the  Court, 
left  no  room  for  him.    In  the  blind  captive  Samson  he 
saw  his  own  lot  embodied.    He  was  certainly  thinking 
of  himself  when  he  penned  such  lines  as  these  : — 
"  This  day  a  solemn  feast  the  people  hold, 
To  Dagon,  their  sea-idol,  and  forbid 
Laborious  works.    Unwillingly  this  rest 
Their  superstition  leaves  me ;  hence,  with  leave 
Retiring  from  the  popular  noise,  I  seek 
This  unfrequented  place  to  find  some  ease — 
Ease  to  the  body  some,  none  to  the  mind 
From  restless  thoughts,  that,  like  a  deadly  swarm 
Of  hornets  armed,  no  sooner  found  alone 
But  rush  upon  me  thronging,  and  present 
Times  past,  what  once  I  was,  and  what  am  now." 
If  he  was  despondent  about  himself,  for  England  he 
did  not  "  bate  a  jot  of  heart  or  hope."    "  All,"  sings  the 
final  chorus  of  the  "  Samson  Agonistes  " — 
"All  is  best,  though  we  oft  doubt 
What  the  unsearchable  dispose 
Of  Highest  Wisdom  brings  about 
And  ever  best  found  in  the  close. 

iic  «  *  * 

"  His  servants  He,  with  new  acquist 
Of  true  experience  from  this  great  event, 
With  peace  and  consolation  hath  dismissed, 
And  calm  of  mind,  all  passion  spent." 

\ 
\ 


1 66 1 .    Revival  of  Parliamentary  Opposition.  205 


It  is  written  of  Samson  that  those  "  which  he  slew  in  his 
death  were  more  than  they  which  he  slew  in  his  life." 
Puritanism,  with  "  all  passion  spent,"  would  wage  a  war- 
fare with  evil  more  effectual  than  when  it  appeared 
clothed  in  the  habiliments  of  war  at  Naseby. 

Section  IV. —  The  Revival  of  Parliamentary 
Opposition. 

Even  the  Cavalier  Parliament  did  not  stand  on  the 
ground  which  had  been  occupied  by  Charles  I.  before 
the  meeting;  of  the  Long"  Parliament.  Its 

^  ^  A.  D.  1661. 

members  held  that  the  wearer  of  the  crown  ^i.TheParlia- 
tvas  inviolable.    No  man,  no  body  of  men  S"^th^eCons^tI^ 
in  the  realm,  had  the  right  to  call  him  to  ac-  ^^^^Q^- 
count.    But  then  his  ministers  were  to  be  responsible, 
and  in  this  way  the  action  of  the  Government  might  be 
kept  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  Parliament. 

So  far,  it  was  not  unlikely  that  Charles  II.  would  ac- 
cept with  more  or  less  reluctance  the  bonds  against 
which  his  father  had  struggled  in  vain.  His 
intellect  was  cast  in  a  less  narrow  mould  ^-1' f^^'^^^'fJ^ 

of  Charles  11. 

than  that  of  Charles  I.  He  could  under- 
stand the  necessity  of  taking  into  account  the  opinions 
and  prejudices  of  others,  and  of  adapting  his  conduct  to 
the  varying  requirements  of  the  time.  He  cared  enough 
about  politics  to  take  a  personal  interest  in  them,  and  to 
do  his  best  to  influence  those  who  were  themselves  in- 
fluential. He  was  easy-going  and  voluptuous,  fond  of 
merriment  and  dissipation,  unwilling  to  make  sacrifices 
of  any  kind.  Above  all,  he  had  learned  by  experience 
what  the  life  of  an  exiled  prince  was  like,  and  he  had  no 
desire  to  repeat  the  experiment  "Whatever  else  may 
happen,"  he  was  wont  to  say,  "  I  have  no  wish  to  go 
again  upon  my  travels." 


2o6 


End  of  the  Revolution. 


1664. 


Such  a  king  seemed  marked  out  by  nature  to  replace 
the  authority  of  command  by  the  authority  of  influence. 
^  But  there  was  at  least  one  quarter  in  which 

g  3.  His 

financial  difficulties  might  be  expected  to  arise.  The 
I  cu  les.  House  of  Commons  in  the  height  of  its 
loyalty  had  not  forgotten  to  keep  a  tight  grip  upon  the 
national  purse-strings.  It  was  to  wound  Charles  in  his 
tenderest  point.  Lavish  and  profuse  himself,  he  gathered 
round  him  those  who  were  more  lavish  and  profuse  still. 
Greedy  courtiers,  and  still  more  greedy  mistresses,  cried 
out  for  money  with  the  persistency  of  the  horse-leech. 
Men  who  had  fought  and  bled  for  Charles  I.  began  to 
look  with  suspicion  upon  the  Court  and  Government  of 
Charles  II. 

A  war  with  the  Dutch,  lasting  from  1664  to  1667, 
brought  matters  to  a  crisis.     The  supporters  of  the 
Restoration  split  into  the  Court  party  and 

A.  D  1664. 

1 4.  War  with  the  Couutry  party.  In  the  days  of  Charles 
the  Dutch.  j  Commons  had  often  refused  to  vote 
money  till  their  grievances  had  been  redressed ;  but  when 
once  the  money  was  voted,  they  had  no  further  control 
over  it.  The  Country  party  now  began  to  ask  how  the 
money  which  they  had  voted  for  the  war  was  spent. 
Had  it  gone  to  pay  soldiers  and  sailors,  or  had  it  served 
but  to  swell  the  tide  of  revelry  at  Whitehall  ? 

It  was  a  very  natural  question.  Yet  it  was  one  which 
^  5  The  Com-  ^^^^  deeply  into  the  Restoration  settle- 
monsandtue    ment.    The  strength  which  the  Commons 

expenditure.  •      i   i        i  /•       r  • 

acquired  by  the  power  of  refusmg  taxation 
would  be  doubled  if  they  could  also  acquire  the  power 
of  examining  into  payments,  and  of  controlling  the  ex- 
penditure. 

The  chief  opponent  of  this  demand  was  Charles' 
leading  minister,  Lord  Chancellor  Clarendon,  who,  as 


1667.    Revival  of  Farlimnentary  Opposition.  207 


Sir  Edward  Hyde,  had  taken  part  in  the 
council  of  Charles  I.  after  the  presentation  ^on?Consti- 
of  the  Remonstrance.    In  both  reigns  he  ^p^nions 
had  been  the  main  supporter  of  the  doctrine 
that  Government  ought  to  be  based  upon  the  co-opera- 
tion of  the  Crown  and  the  Parliament.    He  did  not  wish 
to  see  Parliament  trodden  under  foot  by  the  King.  He 
did  not  wish  to  see  the  King  trodden  under  foot  by  Par- 
liament.   But  he  forgot  that  the  common  saying  that 
**  if  two  men  ride  on' horseback,  one  must  ride  in  front," 
applies  to  politics  as   well  as  to  ordinary  life.  The 
moment  any  real  cause  of  dissension  arose,  the  Crown 
and  Parliament  would  agree  only  in  expecting  that  the 
other  should  give  way. 

Clarendon  was  driven  into  disgrace  and  exile.  Charles 
was  not  likely  to  struggle  to  retain  him  in  office,  as  his 
father  had  struccg-led  to  retain  Buckingham. 

°°  °  A.  D.  1667. 

He  had  ceased  to  care  for  him  personally.  §7.Clareii- 
Clarendon  was  an  austere  moralist   and    °"  ^  isgrace. 
looked  askance  at  the  private  life  of  his  master. 

The  position  taken  by  the  Country  party  was  very  far 
from  being  the  same  as  that  taken  by  the  Dissenters, 
who  refused  to  acknowledge  the  doctrine  of  non-resist- 
ance. But  those  who  advocated  it  were  moving  in  the 
same  direction.    They  did  not  hold  that  it     ,  „  ^  .  . 

^  §  8.  Position 

was  right  to  resist  the  Crown  by  force  of     of  the  Coun- 
arms ;  but  they  held  that  it  was  right  to  v^'^^y- 
limit  its  powers,  to  check  its  extravagances,  and  to  control 
its  expenditure. 

Section  V. — Revival  of  the  Idea  of  Toleration, 

It  was  in  vain  that  the  Cavalier  Parliament  had  done  its 
best  to  bury  oui  of  sight  the  question  of  toleration.  Such 


208 


End  of  the  Revolution, 


1667. 


a  question  could  not  be  buried  out  of  sight, 
idea  of  Too  many  persons  were   interested  in  it. 

toleration.  many  evils  afflicted    society,  which 

could  not  be  removed  till  the  proper  solution  had  been 
discovered.  The  solution  attempted  by  Cromwell  had 
been  in  itself  imperfect,  and  had  been  discredited  on  ac- 
count of  its  imposition  by  armed  force.  But  the  idea  had 
been  laid  before  the  world,  and  it  would  not  always  be 
neglected. 

During  the  first  year  of  his  reign  "Charles  II.  seemed 
as  if  he  wished  to  take  up  a  position  even  more  widely 
tolerant  than   Cromwell's   had  been.  It 
^  ?•       ^        seemed,  too,  as  if  his   efforts  were  more 

adoption  by 

the  King.  likely  to  be  crowned  with  success  in  the 
end,  because  he  was  not  sufficiently  earnest 
about  the  matter  to  attempt  to  thrust  his  ideas  at  once 
down  the  throat  of  an  unwilling  nation.  Indulgence  to 
the  Dissenters  was  to  him  simply  a  measure  of  practical 
policy,  which  would  remove  difficulties  from  his  path 
and  convert  dangerous  opponents  into  useful  friends.  It 
must  have  appeared  probable  to  him  that  by  watching 
his  opportunity  he  would  find  a  time  when  asperities  had 
been  sufficiently  toned  down  to  enable  him  to  carry  out 
his  ideas  into  practice. 

But  for  one  circumstance  it  is  not  improbable  that 
5ome  such  opportunity  would  have  occurred,  and  that 
the  later  Stuarts  would  have  reaped  the  glory 
^  ?•  He  Qf  being- known  as  the  founders  of  toleration 

wishes  to  ^  ° 

include  the  in  England.  Unfortunately  for  them,  they 
Catholics.  had  to  drink  of  the  cup  which  their  grand- 
father had  mixed.  The  unlucky  resolution 
of  James  I.  to  marry  his  son  to  a  Roman  Catholic  prin- 
cess had  borne  the  fruits  which  might  have  been  ex- 
pected.   The  children  of  Charles  I.  and  of  Henrietta 


1 668-73-  Revival  of  the  Idea  of  Toleration.  209 


Maria  adopted  their  mother's  religion.  The  younger  son, 
James,  Duke  of  York,  the  presumptive  heir  to  the 
Crown,  soon  avowed  himself  a  Roman  Catholic.  Charles' 
religious  opinions,  whatever  they  were,  were  certain  to 
hang  upon  him  more  loosely  ;  but  his  tendencies  were 
all  towards  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  on  one 
solemn  occasion,  whilst  he  was  yet  in  exile,  he  had  ac- 
knowledged its  authority. 

Nothing  could  be  more  likely  to  make  the  idea  of  tol- 
eration distasteful  to  the  nation  than  the  suspicion  that 
the  Roman  Catholics  would  in  any  way  be       o    t  r. 

§  4-  Influ- 

benefited  by  it.    The  memory  of  the  Refor-     ence  of 

^    ^  r      /     ^  Lewis  XIV. 

mation  struggle  was  still  iresh.  Gunpowder 
Plot  was  not  forgotten.  Once  more,  too,  there  had  arisen 
upon  the  Continent  an  aggressive  Roman  Catholic 
power.  France  in  the  days  of  Charles  II.  was  still 
stronger  than  Spain  had  been  in  the  days  of  Elizabeth. 
Lewis  XIV.  was  the  master  of  an  apparently  irresistible 
army.  Every  where  his  Court  was  looked  up  to  as  the 
very  focus  of  civilization,  the  centre  of  art  and  literature 
and  science.  Charles  11.  was  his  first  cousin,  and  he 
acknowledged  his  kinsman's  spell.  French  habits  and 
manners,  French  vices  as  well,  became  the  fashion  at 
Whitehall,  From  time  to  time  Charles  was  sorely  tempted 
to  look  for  aid  to  the  great  monarch  who  had  no  Parlia^ 
mentary  Opposition  to  contend  with,  and  who  would 
perhaps  take  pity  upon  a  brother  king  in  difficulties. 

The  Dutch  Republic  had  placed  itself  in  the  forefront 
of  the  resistance  to  France,  as  it  had  placed  itself  in  the 
forefront  of  the  resistance  to  Spain.  For 
a  moment  England,  under  the  influence  of  Th^^' 
the   men   who   had  risen  to  power  after  Ti7-^^^ 

^  Alliance. 

Clarendon's  fall,  joined  in  setting  bounds  to 

the  conquests  of  Lewis.    In  1668  the  Triple  Alliance 


2IO 


E?id  of  the  Revolution. 


1673. 


between  England,  Sweden,  and  the  Dutch  Netherlands 
compelled  France  to  sign  peace  at  Aix-la  Chapelle. 

The  opposition  to  France  was  not  of  long  duration. 
In  the  following  year  Charles  made  overtures  to  Lewis 

which  ripened  into  the  secret  treaty  of 
l^.'^hT'  Dover  in  1670.  By  that  treaty  Charles 
Dov^er^^         agreed  to  support  Lewis  in  his  war  against 

Holland,  whilst  Lewis  agreed  to  supply 
Charles  with  money.  Charles  was  further  to  declare 
himself  a  convert  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

From  the  last  step  Charles  shrank.  It  would  have 
been  too  dangerous,  and  he  did  not  like  to  incur  danger. 

On  March  18,  1672,  however,  he  fulfilled 
f  De-  his  Other  promise  by  declaring  war  with  the 
MSigenc°i      Dutch.    Three  days  before  he  had  issued 

his  Declaration  of  Indulgence.  Protestant 
Dissenters  were  to  be  allowed  to  worship  freely  in  places 
appomted  to  them  for  the  purpose ;  Roman  Catholics 
were  to  be  freed  from  the  penalties  of  the  law  so  long  as 
they  contented  themselves  with  worshipping  in  private 
houses. 

In  itself  the  idea  of  toleration  was  still  unpopular. 
Toleration  for  Roman  Catholics  was  generally  regarded 
with  detestation.  When  the  session  opened 
|^8%Vith-  in  1673  Parhament  loudly  denounced  the 
fi'e'declfra-  illegality  of  a  measure  by  which  the  law  was 
tion.  aside  in  so  sweeping  a  way.    No  doubt 

the  extent  of  the  prerogative  of  the  Crown  was  still  unde- 
fined in  many  directions,  and  the  royal  supremacy  over 
the  Church  which  had  been  handed  down  from  the  Tudor 
sovereigns  was  less  limited  by  custom  than  the  royal 
supremacy  over  the  State.  But  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dulgence was  so  unpopular  that  those  who  attempted  to 
defend  it  had  an  up-hill  task  before  them.    Even  Dis- 


The  Revolution  of  1688. 


211 


senters  had  refused  to  avail  themselves  of  it,  partly  on 
the  ground  of  its  illegality,  partly  because  they  refused 
to  accept  a  benefit  which  must  be  shared  by  the  Roman 
Catholics.  Before  the  determined  opposition  of  Parlia- 
ment Charles  gave  way,  and  the  Declaration  of  Indul- 
gence was  withdrawn. 

Parliament  was  not  content  with  its  victory.  It  passed 
the  Test  Act,  which  excluded  from  office  all  who  refused 
to  abjure  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation.       ^9.  The 

Test  Act 

The  King's  brother,  the  Duke  of  York,  was 

the  first  to  suffer.    He  ceased  to  be  Lord  High  Admiral 

of  England. 

At  the  same  time  a  Bill  passed  the  House  of  Commons 
to  o^ive  relief  to  the  Protestant  Dissenters. 

T  .1  •  •         •       -I       TT  rx         1  ?         ■Dill  for 

It  met  with  opposition  in  the  House  of  Lords,     the  relief  of 

1  .  T  ,  Dissenters. 

and  It  never  became  law. 

Fifteen  years  were  yet  to  pass  before  the  throne  of  the 
Stuarts  was  overturned.  The  story  of  those  years,  full 
of  events  and  vicissitudes,  is  the  task  of 

g  II.  Fros- 

another  pen.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  Eng-  pectof 
land  was  already  on  the  track  which  led  toleration, 
eventually  to  the  Revolution  settlement  of  1688.  Crom- 
well's toleration  for  Puritans  alone  had  been  framed  on 
too  narrow  a  basis,  The  apprehension  of  danger  from 
the  Roman  Catholics,  which  culminated  when  a  bigoted 
Roman  Catholic  king  ascended  the  throne,  was  already 
leading  enlightened  Churchmen  to  think  of  the  points 
which  they  had  in  common  with  the  Dissenters  rather 
than  upon  the  points  which  separated  them. 


Section  VI. —  The  Revolution  of  1688, 


In  the  Revolution  which  placed  William  and  Mary  upon 
the  throne,  satisfaction  was  given  to  the  two  leading  de- 


212 


End  of  the  Revolution, 


mands  of  the  troubled  period  by  which  it 

A.  D.  1688.  ^  ^ 

1^1.  The  had  been  preceded.  On  the  one  hand, 
ParUament  was  practically  acknowledged  as 
the  most  important  factor  in  the  Constitution,  and  the 
whole  action  of  the  ministers  of  the  Crown  was  drawn 
within  the  sphere  of  its  controlling  power.  On  the  other 
hand,  except  so  far  as  the  Roman  Catholics  were  con- 
cerned, the  Toleration  Act  and  the  establishment  of  the 
Hberty  of  the  press  restricted  the  action  of  political  bodies 
within  comparatively  narrow  limits.  It  relieved  them 
from  the  supposed  duty  of  forcible  interference  v/ith  the 
world  of  religion  and  with  the  world  of  thought.  From 
thenceforward  the  struggle  for  political  power  was  mere- 
ly a  struggle  for  this  or  that  object  to  be  obtained  in  the 
immediate  present.  The  shaping  of  the  coming  genera- 
tion was  left  to  the  free  press  and  the  free  pulpit,  which 
were  uninfluenced  by  the  result  of  Parliamentary  strug- 
gles. A  large  portion  of  the  reasons  which  led  thought- 
ful men  to  oppose  the  supremacy  of  Parliament  fell  to 
the  ground.  The  beaten  statesman  had  a  vantage- 
ground  from  which  to  move  the  world  and  to  gain  con- 
verts to  his  ideas.  He  need  not  cling  unduly  to  power, 
out  of  fear  lest  in  leaving  it  he  would  re-enter  into  in- 
significance. 

The  political  revolution  of  1688,  indeed,  appears  at 
first  sight  to  have  carried  out  the  views  of  Cromwell's 

opponents  rather  than  those  of  Cromwell, 
cal  resuyt*^^*^*'    '^^^  Casting  vote  in  all  political  difficulties 

lies  with  the  nation  as  represented  in  Parlia- 
ment, and  more  especially  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
and  not  with  the  Executive  Government.  No  king  and 
no  prime  minister  ever  contemplates  in  these  days  the 
possibility  of  marching  a  regiment  of  soldiers  down  to 
the  House  of  Parliament,  in  order  to  distinguish  by  that 


1088. 


The  Revolution  of  1688. 


213 


rude  instrument  who  are  fit  to  have  votes  from  those  who 
are  not.  No  king  and  no  prime  minister  ever  thinks  of 
governing  in  a  spirit  directly  opposed  to  that  of  which 
the  nation  dehberately  approves.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  this  has  become  possible  because  all  the  reasona- 
ble objections  of  Cromwell  and  of  Strafford  before  him. 
have  been  satisfactorily  met.  The  House  of  Commons 
leaves  judicial  sentences  to  the  Judges.  The  House  of 
Commons  does  not  now  attempt  to  govern  directly,  but  to 
control  those  who  govern  ;  whilst  the  existence  of  the 
House  of  Lords  compels  it  to  frame  its  legislation  under 
a  sense  of  responsibility,  and  the  good  sense  of  the  House 
of  Lords  has  hitherto  prevented  a  useful  check  from  pro- 
ducing that  dead  lock  in  affairs  which  would  happen  if 
two  bodies  theoretically  equal  were  to  imagine  them- 
selves practically  equal.  In  a  political  constitution  it  is 
desirable  that  some  one  body  should  be  supreme  in  all 
important  matters,  whilst  it  is  equally  desirable  that  it 
should  not  be  so  easily  supreme  as  to  be  dispensed  from 
the  necessity  of  rendering  a  reason  for  its  actions,  or  to 
be  freed  from  the  obligation  of  doing  its  best  to  concili- 
ate those  who  are  opposed  to  it.  These  conditions  were 
fulfilled  by  the  Crown  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  are 
fulfilled  by  the  House  of  Commons  in  the  eighteenth  and 
nineteenth  centuries. 

It  is  to  no  mere  alteration  of  political  mechanism  that 
this  happy  result  is  due.  The  moderation  of  thought, 
the  spirit  of  compromise,  the  readiness  to  spirit  of 
give  a  hearing  to  any  one  who  seems  to  have  the  English 
any  yaluable  advice  to  offer,  these  form  the  p®°p^^- 
soil  out  of  which  our  English  constitution  has  grown,  and 
in  which  alone,  whatever  modifications  it  may  hereafter 
need,  it  will  in  future  continue  to  flourish.  Not  on  one 
side  alone  of  the  great  civil  strife  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 


214 


Efid  of  the  Rezwlution, 


tury  are  our  moral  and  intellectual  ancestors.  The  high 
energy  of  a  statesmanship  founded  upon  a  national  re- 
solve may  brace  itself  to  noble  deeds  by  the  example  of 
Eliot,  whilst  Strafford's  warnings  may  serve  to  remind 
us  of  the  necessity  of  giving  due  weight  to  intelhgence 
in  the  conduct  of  the  State.  He  who  thinks  of  modera- 
tion, of  wise  dislike  of  the  application  of  force  to  solve 
religious  and  political  difficulties  may  think  of  Falkland, 
whilst  the  high  ideal  of  life,  without  which  all  work  de- 
generates into  self-seeking,  is  inseparably  connected 
with  the  name  of  Milton.  The  thoughts  which  these 
men  and  others  like  them  made  their  own  did  not  perish 
with  their  failure  to  achieve  political  success.  The  re- 
ligion of  Herbert,  and  of  Laud  reappeared  modified  but 
not  suppressed  after  the  Long  Parliament  and  Cromwell 
had  done  their  uttermost.  The  religion  of  Sibbes  and 
Milton  reappeared  after  the  Restoration  in  the  "  Paradise 
Lost"  and  in  the  "Pilgrim's  Progress."  The  serious 
intelhgence  of  the  Puritan,  the  breadth  of  view  and  the 
artistic  perception  of  the  Churchman,  became  elements 
of  the  national  life  all  the  more  fruitful  of  good  when 
they  ceased  to  come  into  violent  collision  with  one  an- 
other. 


INDEX. 


ABB 

ABBOTT,  George,  Archbishop  01" 
Canterbury,  connives  at  non- 
conformity, 16;  dies,  88 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  peace  of,  210 
AreoJ-agitica,  the,  146 
Argyle,  Earl,  and  sui)sequently  Mar- 
quis of,  leader  of  the  Scottish  Pres- 
byterians, 124 ;  defeated  by  Mon- 
trose, 148 ;  objects  to  an  alliance 
between  Scotland  and  the  king,  156 
Army,  the  Parliamentary,  formation 
of,  132;  Cromwell's  ideas  about, 
13/^;  independency  in,  143;  reor- 
ganized as  the  New  Model,  148  ; 
drives  the  king's  forces  out  of  the 
field,  149 ;  visit  of  Baxter  to,  150; 
begins  to  quarrel  with  the  Parlia- 
ment, 152  ;  gets  possession  of  the 
king,  153;  ejects  eleven  Presbyte- 
rian members  from  Parliament,  and 
draws  up  heads  of  a  settlement  with 
the  king,  154;  resolves  to  call  the 
king  to  account,  157;  remonstran- 
ces of,  158;  feeling  of,  against  the 
king,  161 ;  divine  right  claimed  by, 
170;  overthrows  Richard  Crom- 
well's Protectorate,  and  restores 
the  Long  Parliament,  193 ;  over- 
throws it  and  restores  it  again,  194  ; 
disbandment  of,  198 
Articles  of  religion,  the,  Charles'  de- 
claration prefixed  to,  67  ;  interpre- 
tation placed  on  by  the  Commons, 
69 

Arundel  taken  by  the  Parliamentary 
troops,  140 

Assembly,  General,  meets  at  Glas- 
gow, 109  ;  refuses  to  dissolve,  109 

Association,  the  Eastern,  143 

Attainder,  bill  of,  against  Strafford, 
117 


BUR 

BACON,  his  tolerant  disposition, 
5  ;  advises  James  how  to  deal 
with  Parliaments,  20;  becomes  Lord 
Chancellor,  34  ;  is  accused  of  cor- 
ruption, 35  ;  his  sentence,  36 
Barebone's  Parliament,  see  Nomi- 
nees, Assembly  of 
Bastwick,  John,  sentenced  in  the  Star 
Chamber,  98;  sent  to  the  Scilly 
Isles,  99 

Bate,  John,  decision  on  his  case,  18 
Baxter,  Richard,  his  visit  to  the  army, 
150 

Bemerton,  George  Herbert  at,  82 
Bishops,  Bill  to  restrain  the  authority 
of,  121 

Bishops' war,  the  first,  in;  the  se- 
cond, 114 

Blake,  Robert,  sent  to  the  Mediterra- 
nean, 181 ;  destroys  pirate  ships  at 
Tunis,  182 

Bohemia,  revolution  in,  30 ;  James 
refuses  to  interfere  in,  32 

Breda,  declaration  of,  197 

Bristol  taken  by  the  king,  125 

Buckingham,  successively  Earl,  Mar- 
quis, and  Duke  of,  becomes  James' 
favorite,  26  ;  his  friends  connected 
with  the  monopolies,  34 ;  accom- 
panies Charles  to  Madrid,  41 ;  sup- 
ported by  the  Commons  in  his  de- 
mand for  war  with  Spain,  46 ;  urges 
the  impeachment  of  Middlesex,  48  ; 
his  schemes  for  carrying  on  war,  49  ; 
goes  to  Holland,  53 ;  is  impeached, 
56  ;  goes  to  Rhe,  58  ;  fails  there,  59  : 
prepares  to  go  to  Rochelle,  62  ;  is 
assassinated,  63 

Burton,  Henry,  sentenced  in  the  Star 
Chamber,  94 ;  sent  to  Guernsey, 

93 

215 


2l6 


Index. 


CHA 

CADIZ,  expedition  to,  52 
Calvin,  his  influence  over  the 
Puritans,  2 
Cambridge,  University  of,  reformed 

t»y  Manchester,  138 
Canons  passed  in  1604,  15 
Cape  Cod,  the  '*  Mayflower  "  anchors 

within,  86 
Carisbrooke  Castle,  Charles  I.  at,  155 
Carr,  Robert,  Earl  of  Somerset,  26 
Catesb}'-,  Robert,  his  part  in  the  Gun- 
powder Plot,  22 
Catholics,  treatment  of  by  Elizabeth, 
21 ;  and  by  James,  22-23  attacked 
by  the  Commons,  39 ;  i  rovisions 
for  in  the  Spanish  marriage  treaty, 
44 ;  engagement  made  that  they 
shall  not  be  included  in  French 
treaty,  48 ;  petition  of  the  Commons 
against,  51 
Chambers,  Richard,  refuses  to  pay 
tonnage  and  poundage,  and  is  fined 
and  imprisoned,  72 
Chancery,  reform  of,  176 
Charles  I.  {see  Charles,  Prince  of 
Wales),  accession  of,  50;  meets  his 
first  Parliament,  50;  dissolves  it, 
52  ;  lends  ship  to  the  French  54  ; 
is  involved  in  disputes  with 
France,  54 ;  dissolves  his  second 
Parliament,  and  demands  a  free 
gift  from  the  country,  56  ;  dismisses 
the  queen's  French  atteiriants,  57; 
urges  his  ministers  to  support  the 
expedition  to  Rh6,  58 ;  summons  a 
third  Parliament,  59;  grants  the 
Petition  of  Right,  63 ;  prorogues 
Parliament,  62 ;  his  claim  to  levy 
tonnage  and  poundage  disputed,  64; 
promotes  divines  attacked  by  the 
Commons,  66;  his  declaration  on 
the  Articles,  67;  dissolves  his  third 
Parliament,  71  ;  his  political  posi- 
tion, 74 ;  negotiates  about  the  Pa- 
latinate, 78 ;  converses  with  an 
emissary  from  Rome,  93 ;  orders 
the  issue  of  writs  of  ship-money, 
95;  demands  ship-money  from  the 
inland  counties,  96;  imposes  a 
Prayer-book  on  Scotland,  107;  gives 
way  to  resistance  and  summons  a 
General  Assembly,  108 ;  laads  an 
army  against  the  Scotch,  in  ;  sum- 
mons the  Short  Parliament,  112  ;  is 
present  at  the  impeachment  of 
Strafford,  115  ;  assents  to  the  Bill  of 
Attainder  against  him,  117;  assents 


COM 

to  bills  limiting  the  power  of  the 

Crown,  118  ;  accepts  the  services  of 
Falkland  and  Hyde,  123 ;  visits 
Scotland,  124 ;  receives  the  Grand 
Remonstrance,  and  impeaches  the 
five  members,  127;  attempt,  to 
seize  them  in  the  House,  128  ;  ele- 
ments of  his  army,  131 ;  begins  the 
civil  war,  and  fights  at  Edg  h  i;, 
133;  turns  back  fiom  Brentlord, 
133 ;  successes  of,  135 ;  reduces 
Essex's  army  to  surrender,  145  ;  is 
completely  beaten  at  Naseby,  149  ; 
takes  refuge  with  the  Scots,  150; 
negotiations  with,  151 ;  is  delivered 
up  by  the  Scots  and  lodged  at 
Hclrnby  House,  152  ;  taken  posses- 
sion of  by  the  army,  153  ;  proposals 
offered  by  the  army  to,  154;  at 
Carisbrooke,  155 ;  stirs  up  the  se- 
cond civil  war,  156;  brought  to 
Hurst  Castle  and  Windsor,  158; 
trial  and  execution  of,  160;  charac- 
ter of  the  proceedings  against,  161 

Charles  H.,  crowned  in  Scodand,  164 ; 
escapes  after  the  battle  of  Worces- 
ter, 166  ;  restoration  of,  192  ;  eccle- 
siastical settlement  under,  199  ;  his 
character,  205  ;  his  attitude  towards 
the  idea  of  toleration,  208;  influ- 
enced by  Louis  XIV.,  209;  issues 
the  Declaration  of  Indulgence,  210 

Charles,  Prince  of  Wales,  afterwards 
Charles  I.,  negotiations  for  his  mar- 
riage, 24,  30;  goes  to  Madrid,  41 ; 
his  courtship  of  the  Infanta,  44  ;  re- 
turns, 45  ;  promises  not  to  tolerate 
the  Catholic>,  and  urges  the  im- 
peachment of  Middlesex,  48  ;  treaty 
signed  for  his  marriage,  48:  see 
Charles  I. 

Cheynell,  Francis,  visits  Chilling- 
worth,  140 

Chillingworth,  William,  a  visitor  at 
Great  Tew,  121 ;  death  of,  140 

Christian  IV.  of  Denmark  maizes 
peace  with  the  Emperor,  33;  aid 
proposed  to  be  sent  to,  49 ;  is  de- 
rated at  Lutter,  56 

City  of  London,  see  London,  City  of 

Clarendon,  Earl  of,  fad  of,  198,  see 
Hyde,  Edward 

Colchester,  siege  of,  157 

Commons,  the  House  of,  comes  into 
collision  with  James  in  his  first 
Parliament,  15;  questions  his  riiiht 
1     to  lay  impositions,  19-21 ;  votes 


Index, 


217 


CRO 

money  to  the  king,  32  ;  its  protesta- 
tion on  behalf  of  the  Palatinate,  37 ; 
distrusts  Spain,  38  ;  advises  a  war 
with  Spain,  and  protests  against 
interference  with  its  debates,  39 ; 
supports  Buckingham  in  breaking 
with  Spain,  46 ;  looks  coldly  on  a 
French  alliance,  48 ;  opposition  of 
to  Charles  I.,  51 ;  attacks  Bucking- 
ham, 56;  demands  the  Petition  of 
Right,  60 ;  asks  for  Buckingham's 
dismissal,  62 ;  disputes  the  king's 
claim  to  tonnage  and  poundage,  64 ; 
its  strong  feelings  about  religion, 
65 ;  attacks  Montague  and  Man- 
waring,  67 ;  debates  in  on  tonnage 
and  poundage  and  religion,  69  ;  tu- 
mult in,  71 ;  impeaches  Strafford, 
115;  obtains  the  limitation  of  the 
king's  powers,  119;  demands  alter- 
ations in  the  Church,  119 ;  orders 
ceremonial  changes,  123 ;  the  Grand 
Remonstrance  voted  in,  126 ;  im- 
peachment by  the  king  of  members 
of,  127;  attempt  to  seize  members 
of,  128 ;  takes  refuge  in  the  city, 
129  ;  conservatism  of,  120  ;  adopts 
Presbyterianism,  136;  oegins  to 
quarrel  with  the  army,  152  ;  mem- 
bers of,  ejected  by  the  army,  154; 
renewed  Presbyterian  majority  in, 
157;  Pride's  Purge  of,  159;  sets 
aside  the  House  of  Lords,  159  ;  cor- 
ruption in,  169  ;  dissolved  by  Crom- 
well, 170 

Commonwealth,  the,  establishment 
of,  162 

Communion  tables,  removal  of,  89 

Comus,  Milton's,  83 

Connaught,  proposed  colonization  of, 

105 ;  removal  of  the  Irish  to,  164 
Contract,  the  great,  18,  19 
Conventicle  Act,  the,  199 
Convocation  passes  canons,  15 
Cornwall,  surrender  of  Essex's  army 

in,  145  ;  royalist  rising  in,  157 
Corporation  Act,  the,  200 
Council  of  State,  functions  of,  162 
Covenant,  the,  signed  in  Scotland, 

108;  in  England,  137 
Crewe,  Chief  Justice,  dismissal  of,  57 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  his  early  life,  133  ; 
enlists  religious  men,  134;  his  suc- 
cesses in  the  eastern  counties,  143  ; 
wins  the  battle  of  Marston  Moor, 
144;  his  opinions  on  toleration, 
151 ;  defeats  Hamilton  at  Preston, 


EDG 

157 ;  takes  part  in  the  king's  trial, 
160 ;  commands  in  Ireland,  162 ; 
defeats  the  Scots  at  Dunbar,  165  ; 
and  at  Worcester,  165 ;  his  objec- 
tions to  the  scheme  of  the  House 
of  Commons  for  new  elections,  168  ; 
dissolves  the  Long  Parliament,  170  ; 
opens  the  Assembly  of  Nominees, 
170;  receives  the  resignation  of  the 
Assembly's  powers,  172;  becomes 
Protector,  174;  character  of  his 
government,  175;  interferes  with 
his  first  Parliament,  176;  dissolves 
it,  178  ;  resistance  to,  178  ;  appoints 
the  major-generals,  180 ;  suppresses 
Episcopalian  worship,  i8t  ;  makes 
war  against  Spain,  181 ;  insists  upon 
the  cessation  of  the  persecution  in 
Piedmont,  183 ;  opens  his  second 
Parliament,  183  ;  excludes  members 
from  it,  185  ;  interferes  on  behalf  of 
Nayler,  185;  refuses  the  title  of 
king,  186 ;  dissolves  Parliament, 
187;  character  of  his  system  of 
government,  188;  his  sickness,  190; 
dies,  190 

Cromwell,  Richard,  Protectorate  of, 
192,  193  ;  Monk's  remark  on,  195 

DANTE,  close  of  his  Divina  Com- 
media^  203 
Declaration  of  Indulgence,  the,  210 
Declaration  of  Sports,  issue  of,  88 
Denbigh,  Earl  of,  ordered  to  relieve 

Rochelle,  59 ;  fails  in  doing  it,  61 
Devonshire,  Royalist  rising  in,  157 
Digby,  Lord,  his  mission  to  Vienna, 
37 

Dissenters,  treatment  of  in  the  reign 
of  Charles  II.,  199  ;  bill  for  the  re- 
lief of,  211 

Dover,  treaty  of,  210 

Drogheda  taken  by  Cromwell,  163 

Dublin,  Cromwell  lands  at,  163 

Dunbar,  battle  of,  165 

Dundee  taken  by  Montrose,  148 

Dunes,  battle  of  the,  189 

Dunse  Law,  the  Scotch  army  at,  112 

Dutch,  fisheries  of  the,  95 ;  war  of 
the  Commonwealth  with,  168 ;  war 
of  Charles  II.  with,  206;  enter  the 
Triple  Alliance,  209 


EDGEHILL,  battle  of,  133 
Edinburgh,  riot  in,  107 ;  Crom- 
well at,  165 


2l8 


Index, 


FRE 

Eliot,  Sir  John,  takes  the  lead  in 
Charles'  second  Parliament,  55 ; 
manages  Buckingham's  impeach- 
ment, 56;  contrasted  with  Went- 
worth,  60;  takes  the  lead  in  1629, 
70 ;  his  conduct  on  the  last  day  of 
the  session,  71 ;  his  political  views, 
73  ;  his  imprisonment  and  death,  74 

Elizabeth,  Queen  of  England,  opposed 
to  the  Puritans,  2  ;  supports  Epis- 
copacy, 3  ;  is  the  centre  of  national 
life,  II ;  courts  popularity,  12  ;  her 
treatment  of  the  Catholics,  21 

Episcopacy  supported  by  Queen 
Elizabeth,  3 ;  its  unpopularity  in 
Scotland,  106 ;  abolishtd  in  Scot- 
land, 107;  attack  of  the  English 
House  of  Commons  upon,  120 

Essex,  Earl  of,  his  divorce,  26 ;  ap- 
pointed commander  of  the  Parlia- 
mentary army,  132 ;  relieves  Glou- 
cester, and  fights  the  first  battle  of 
Newbury,  136 ;  fails  in  Corn"Wall,i45 

Estates  of  the  realm,  the  three^,  toi 

Evelyn,  John,  complains  of  th^  per- 
secution of  the  Church,  181 

FAIRFAX,  Sir  Thomas,  his  cam- 
paign in  Yorkshire,  144 ;  com- 
mands the  New  Model,  148  ;  takes 
no  part  in  the  trial  of  the  king,  160 , 
declines  to  command  against  the  - 
Scots,  164 :  joins  Monk,  105 
Falkland,  Viscount,  his  character, 
121 ;  society  at  his  house,  122  ;  takes 
service  under  the  crown,  123 ;  death 
of,  136 

Fawkes,  Guy,  his  part  in  the  Gun- 
powder Plot,  22 ;  his  seizure  and 
execution,  24 
Felton,  John,  determines  to  murder 

Buckingham,  62  ;  murders  him,  63 
Feoffees  of  impropriations,  84 
Ferdinand  II.  chosen  Emperor,  31 
Fleetwood  proposed  by  the  army  as 

General,  193 
Forest  courts,  94 

France,  peace  with,  25 ;  alliance  of 
sought  by  James,  47;  marriage 
treaty  with,  48 ;  dispute  with,  54  : 
war  with,  57;  increasing  naval 
power  of,  95 ;  Cromwell's  league 
with,  183 

Frederick  V.,  Elector  Palatinate, 
chosen  king  of  Bohemia,  31 

Fresh  Suit  against  Human  Ceremo- 
nies, character  of  the  book,  87 


IND 

GERMANY,  religious  settlement 
in,  5  ;  war  in,  30 
Glasgow,  general  assembly  of,  109 
Gloucester,  siege  of,  136 
Great  council,  the,  114 
Great  Tew,  society  at,  121 
Gunpowder  Plot,  formation  of  the, 

22  ;  its  failure,  23 
Gustavus  Adolphus  lands  in  Germany 
Si 


HABEAS  Corpus,  case  of,  59 
Hague,  the,  murder  of^  the 
English  ambassador  at,  163 
Hamilton,  Marquis  of,  mission  of  to 
Scotland,  108 ;  dissolves  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly,  109;  invades  England, 
156 

Hampden,  John,  resists  the  payment 
of  ship-money,  97;  judgment  against 
him,  98;  impeachment  of,  127; 
thinks  Cromwell's  idea  of  religious 
soldiers  unpractical,  134 ;  death  of, 
135 

Hampton  Court,  conferences  at,  13 
Hazelrig,  Arthur,  impeachment  of,  127 
Henrietta   Maria,   seen  by  Prince 
Charles,  42  ;  the  treaty  for  her  mar- 
riage signed,  48 ;  arrives  in  Eng- 
land, 50 

Herbert,  George,  character  of  his 
churchmanship  and  poetry,  82 

High  Commission,  Court  of,  its  rise, 
9  ;  its  character,  10 ;  abolition  of,  119 

High  Court  of  Justice,  159 

Hihfriornastix ^  90 

Hollos,  Denzil,  holds  the  speaker  in 
his  chair,  71 ;  impeachment  of,  117 
Holmby  House,  Charles  I.  at,  152 
Hooker,  his  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  5 
Hue's  Cross,  re-named  by  "Winthrop, 
87 

Hurst  Casth,  Charles  I.  at,  158 
Hyde,  Edward,  his  character,  122;  ac- 
cepts service  Mrder  the  crown,  123 


T  MPEACHMEKT,revived  inform- 
JL  ally  in  Bacon':^  case,  36;  of 
Middlesex,  48  ;  of  Buckingham,  56 ; 
of  Strafford,  115 
Impositions,  the  new,  lai4  by  the 
king,  and  questioned  by  the  Com- 
mons, 18 

Independents,  the,  conflict  of,  with 
the    Presbyterians,    139 ;  their 


Index. 


219 


KEN 

strength  in  the  army,  143 ;  the 
battle  of  Marston  Moor  favorable 
to,  144  ;  their  views  on  liberty  of 
worship,  145  ;  see  Separatists 
Instrument  of  Government,  174 
Ireland,  settlement  of  11;  Uls'er 
colonized  in,  102 ;  under  Went- 
worth's  government,  104 ;  insurrec- 
tion in,  119;  Cromwell  in,  162; 
treatment  of  by  Cromwell,  163 ; 
members  from  sit  in  Cromwell's 
Parliament,  176 

JAMAICA,  conquest  of,  183 
James  I.,  his  accession,  13  ;  sum- 
mons the  Hampton  Court  Confer- 
ence, 14;  treats  the  Puritans  there 
with  contempt,  15  ;  his  views  about 
the  union  with  Scotland,  16;  his 
financial  difficulties,  17;  lays  the 
new  impositioijs  and  enters  into  the 
great  contract,  19 ;  dissolves  his 
first  Parliament,  20 ;  dissolves  his 
second  Parliament,  21 ;  negotiates 
a  marriage  treaty  with  Spain,  24; 
consents  to  Raleigh's  expedition, 
25  ;  sends  him  to  the  scaffold,  26; 
advances  Somerset, 26;  and  Villiers, 
26;  his  ideas  about  the  royal  au- 
thority, 28 ;  despises  popularity,  30 ; 
takes  no  active  part  in  the  war  in 
Germany,  31 ;  allows  volunteers  to 
go  to  the  Palatinate,  and  calls  his 
third  Parliament,  32  ;  gives  up  the 
monopolies,  34 ;  mediates  in  Ger- 
many, 37 ;  asks  Parliament  for 
money,  38;  dissolves  Parliament, 
40;  prepares  for  the  reception  of 
the  Infanta,  44 ;  is  compelled  to 
break  with  Spain,  46 ;  desires  an 
alliance  with  France,  47;  regrets 
the  impeachment  of  Tvliddlesex,  48  ; 
death  of,  49 
James,  Duke  of  York,  avows  himself 
a  Roman  Catholic,  209  ;  driven  out 
of  office  by  the  Test  Act,  211 
Joyce,  Cornet,  carries  the  king  to  the 

army,  153 
Judges,  the,  decide  on  the  naturaliza- 
tion of  Scotchmen,  17;  and  on  Bate's 
case,  18 ;  declare  ship-money  legal, 
96,  97 

KENT,  Royalist  rising  in,  157 
Kimbolton,   Lord,  impeach- 
ment of  by  the  king,  127 ;  see  Man- 
chester, Earl  of 


MAN 

Knighthood,  compositions  for,  77 

LAMBERT  speaks  contemptuously 
J  of  the  Parliament,  and  defeats 
the  Royalists,  193  ;  his  conversation 
with  Lenthall,  194 
Laud,  William,  successively  Bishop 
of  London  and  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury, his  views  on  uniformity, 
78 ;  his  ecclesiastical  changes,  81  ; 
becomes  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
and  reprimands  Richardson,  89  ; 
wishes  to  move  the  communio  i 
tables,  89  ;  his  metropolitan  visita- 
tions, 93 ;  imposes  a  new  Prayer 
Book  on  Scotland,  107;  committed 
to  the  Tower,  131  ;  execution  of,  139 
Leighton,  Alexander,  sentenced  in  the 

Star  Chamber,  80 
Lenthall,  William,  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Commons  in  the  Long 
Parliament,  his  conduct  when  the 
king  visits  the  House,  128  ;  restored 
to  the  chair  by  the  army,  194  ;  his 
conversation  with  Lambert,  194 
Leven,  Earl  of,  commands  the  Scotch 

at  Marston  Moor,  144 
Lewis  XIII.,  king  of  France,  agrees 
to  marry  his  sister  to  Charles,  48  ; 
takes  umbrage  at  Charles'  treat- 
ment of  the  Catholics,  54 ;  lays 
siege  to  Rochelle,  57 
Lewis  XIV.,  king  of  France,  his  in- 
fluence in  Europe,  209 
Leyden,  Separatists  at,  85 
London,  City  of,  welcomes  the  king 
on  his  return  from  Scotland,  127 ; 
turns  against  him  after  his  attempt 
to  seize  the  five   members,  128; 
sends  its  forces  to  meet  the  king  at 
Turnham  Green,  133;  supports  the 
Presbyterians,  154;   occupied  by 
the  army,  154;  riots  in,  157 ;  resists 
the  Rump,  191 
Lords,  House  of,  in  opposition  to  the 
Crown,  114;    throws   out  a  bill 
against  Bishops,  121  ;  set  aside  by 
the  House  of  Commons  159  ;  Crom- 
weU's,  164-165 
Lycidas,  Milton's,  99 

MADRID,    arrival    of  Prince 
Charles  at,  42  ;  murder  of  an 
English  ambassador  at,  163 
Major-generals,  the,  180;  withdrawn, 
185 

Manchester,  Earl  of,  drives  those  who 


220 


Index. 


NEW 

refuse  the  covenant  out  of  Cam- 
bridge, 138 ;  fights  the  second  battle 
of  Newbury,  and  quarrels  with 
Cromwell,  146 

Mansfield,  Count,  commands  in  the 
Upper  Palatinate,  38 ;  retreats  "  > 
the  Lower  Palatinate,  38 ;  pui  1 
command  of  English  troops,  49 ; 
failure  of  his  expedition,  50 

Manwaring,  Roger,  attacked  by  the 
Commons,  67 

Maria,  the  Infanta,  negotiations  to 
marry  her  to  Prince  Charles,  24 ; 
declares  that  she  will  not  marry 
him,  43 

Mars  ton  Moor,  battle  of,  144 ;  results 
of  favorable  to  the  Independents,i45 

Massachusetts,  colonization  of,  87 

"  Mayflower,"  voyage  of  the,  86 

Metropolitan  visitations,  93 

Middlesex,  Earl  of,  impeachment  of, 
48 

Militia,  struggle  for  the  control  of,  129 

Milton,  John,  his  //  Penseroso,  91 ; 
his  Cotitus^()i ;  his  Lycidas,  99  ;  his 
view  of  liberty,  146  ;  his  Areopagi- 
tica,  146;  his  sonnet  to  Cromwell, 
155  ;  his  sonnet  on  the  massacre  in 
Piedmont,  182  ;  his  Paradise  Lost 
and  Paradise  Regained^  201  ;  his 
Samson  Agonistes ,  204 

Moderates  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
121  ;  their  weakness,  122  ;  oppose 
the  Grand  Remonstrance,  126 

Monk,  George,  marches  into  England, 
195  ;  declares  for  a  free  Parliament, 
196 

Monopolies,  the,  attacked  by  the 
Commons,  33 

Montague,  Richard,  attacked  by  the 
Commons  and  made  a  bishop,  66 

Montrose,  Earl,  and  subsequently 
Marquis  of  accused  of  a  plot  against 
Argyle,  124  ;  his  campaigns  in  the 
Highlands,  148  ;  defeated  at  Philip- 
haugh,  149  ;  reappears  in  Scotland, 
is  taken,  and  executed,  163 

Morley,  George,  a  visitor  at  Great 
Tew,  122 

NASEBY,  battle  of,  149 
Nayler,  James,  persecution  of, 

185 

Newark,  the  king  takes  refuge  with 

the  Scots  at,  150 
Newburn,  rout  of,  114 
Newbury,  first  battle  of,  136 


PIE 

Newcastle,  Charles  1.  at,  151 
Newcastle,  Marquis  of,  defeated  at 

Marston  Moor,  144 
New  England,  colonization  of,  86 
Newmarket,  the  king  at,  154 
New  Model,  the,  148 
Newport,  treaty  of,  156,  157 
Nominees,  A  sembly  of,  meets,  170  ; 

resigns  its  powers  into  Cromwell's 

hands,  172 
Non-resistance,  doctrine  of,  200 
Nottingham,  the  king's  standard  set 

up  at,  132 
Noy  plans  the  ship-money  writ,  95  ; 

death  of,  95 

ORKNEYS,  Montrose  lands  in 
the,  164 

Oxford,  Parliament  adjourned  to,  51  ; 
Charles  fixes  his  headquarters  at, 
135 

PALATINATE,  the,  invaded  by 
the  Spaniards,  32  ;  declaration 
of  the  Commons  about,  37  ;  struggle 
of  Mansfeld  and  Tilly  for,  38 ;  loss 
of,  40  ;  fresh  negotiations  about,  78 
Paradise  Lost^  202 
Paradise  Regained,  202 
Parliament,  p  sition  of  m  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  8  ;  the  first  of  James  I., 
15-20,  24  ;  the  second  of  James  I., 
21  ;  the  third  of  James  I.,  32-40; 
the  fourth  of  James  I.,  46-47  ;  the 
first  of  Charles  L,  50-51  ;  the  second 
of  Charles  I.,  54-55;  the  third  of 
Charles  I.,  59-75  ;  the  Short,  112  ; 
the  Long,  11 5-1 70;  Barebone's,  or 
Assembly  of  Nominees,  170-173 ; 
first  of  the  Protectorate,  173-178  ; 
second  of  the  Protectorate,  183-186 ; 
the  Long  restored,  r87-i9o ;  Con- 
vention, 197 ;  Cavalier,  199 
Penn,  expedition  of,  to  the  West  In- 
dies, 183 

Penruddock,  rising  of,  against  Crom- 
well, 179 

Penseroso^  11^  91 

Petition  and  advice,  the,  186 

Petition  of  Right,  the,  introduced, 
60  ;  receives  the  Royal  assent,  61 

Philips,  Sir  Robert,  his  speech 
against  Spain,  39 

Philip  IV.,  King  of  Spain,  his  diffi- 
culties about  his  sister's  marriage, 43 

Piedmont,  massacre  of  the  Vaudois 
in,  182 


Index, 


221 


REM 

Plymouth  in  New  England,  founda- 
tion of,  86 

Portland,  Earl  of,  seeks  a  Spanish 
alliance,  94  ;  death  of,  95 

Portsmouth,landing  of  Prince  Charles 
at,  46 ;  its  garrison  declares  against 
the  army  leaders,  194 

Powick  Bridge,  skirmish  at,  133 

Prayer  Book,  conformity  to  the  Eng- 
lish, required  by  Laud,  82 ;  the 
Scottish,  107 

Presbyterianism  disliked  by  Elizabeth 
3  ;  re-introduced  into  Scotland,  109  ; 
partial  establishment  of  in  England, 
136 

Presbyterians,  the,  conflict  of,  with 
the  Independents,  139 ;  their 
strength  in  Parliament,  145  ;  offer 
terms  to  the  king,  151  ;  desire  to 
disband  the  army,  152  ;  eleven  of 
their  members  expelled  by  the  army, 
156  ;  regain  power  in  the  Commons, 
and  re-open  negotiations  with  the 
king,  158 

Preston,  battle  of,  157 

Pride's  Purge,  159 

Prynne,  William,  his  Histrioinastix^ 
90  ;  his  sentence  in  the  Star  Cham- 
ber, 91  ;  sentenced  again  in  the  Star 
Chamber,  98 

Puritans,  their  part  in  the  Reforma- 
tion, 2  ;  are  disliked  by  Elizabeth, 
2  ;  abandon  Presbyterianism,  4  ;  in- 
vited to  the  Hampton  Court  con- 
ference, 14  ;  are  ordered  to  conform, 
15  ;  expelled  from  their  livings  for 
nonconformity,  16 ;  attacked  by 
Laud,  78  ;  self-confidence  of,  83  ; 
general  conformity  of,  84  ;  object  to 
the  Declaration  of  Sports,  89 

Pym,  John,  does  not  follow  Elic  t  in 
Rolle's  case,  70 ;  moves  the  im- 
peachment of  Strafford,  1x5;  op- 
poses the  change  of  proceeding  to 
a  Bill  of  Attainder,  117  ;  impeach- 
ment of,  127 ;  death  of,  138 

RAGLAN  Castle,  surrender  of,  149 
Raleigh's  expedition  to  Guiana, 
25  ;  his  execution,  26 
Reading  taken  by  the  Parliamenta- 
rians, 135 
Recusants,  treatment  of  the,  21 
Reformation,  the  English,  i 
Reformers,  the,  i 

Remonstrance,  the  Grand,  126 ;  its 
language  not  favorable  to  liberty,i3i 


SHA 

Restoration,  the,  197 

Revolution  of  1688,  the,  212 

Rhe,  Isle  of,  Buckingham's  expedi- 
tion to,  58 

Richardson,  Chief  Justice,  repri- 
•^anded  for  suppressing  leasts  in 
.Somersetshire,  89 

Rochelle  attacked  by  the  French,  57  ; 
Denbigh  ordered  to  relieve,  59  ;  his 
failure  before,  61  ;  intention  c  f 
Buckingham  to  relieve,  62  ;  sur- 
renders, 63 

Rolle,  Henry,  question  of  the  liability 
of  his  g  oods  to  tonnage  and  pouno- 
age,  68,  69 

Root  and  Branch  Bill,  the,  121 

Roundway  Down,  success  of  the 
Royalists  at,  135 

Rupert,  Prince,  leads  the  cavalry  at 
Edgehill,  133 ;  fights  at  Marston 
Moor,  144 

ST.  DOMINGO,  failure  of  Penn 
and  Venables  at,  183 
Salisbury,  Royalist  disturbances  at, 

179 

Samson  Agomstes,  the,  204 
Savoy,  Duke  of,  massacres  the  Vau- 
dois,  182 

Scotch,  the  decision  of  the  judges  on 
their  naturalization,  17 

Scotland,  Episcopacy  in,  106  ;  Prayer 
Book  introduced  into,  107 ;  General 
Assembly  of,  109  ;  resistance  to  the 
king  in,  109  ;  character  of  the  move- 
ment in,  110;  visit  of  the  king  to, 
124;  forms  a  league  with  England, 
137";  takes  part  against  the  king, 
144;  takes  the  king's  part,  156; 
coronation  of  Charles  11.  in,  164; 
members  from  sit  in  Cromwtll  s 
Parliam-ents,  176 

Scottish  Army,the,  encamps  at  Dunse 
Law,  112 ;  invades  England,  114; 
returns  to  Scotland,  119  ;  cro'^ses 
the  border  and  fights  at  Marston 
Moor,  144;  receives  the  king  after 
the  battle  of  Naseby,  150;  delivers 
up  the  king,  152  ;  prepares  to  in- 
vade England  under  Hamilton,  156; 
is  defeated  at  Preston,  157;  is  de- 
feated at  Dunbar,  165 ;  is  defeated 
at  Worcester,  165 

Self-denying  ordinance,  146 

Separatists,  congregation  of,  at  Ley- 
den,  85  ;  emigrate  to  America,  86 

Shakespeare,  his  moral  teaching,  6  ; 


222 


Index, 


TUD 

character  of  his  loyalty,  ii  ;  his 
views  on  revolutions,  154 
Sheldon,  Gilbert,  a  visitor  at  Great 
Tew,  122 

Sh  rfield,  Henry,  sentenced  in  the 

Star  Chamber,  80 
Ship-money  levied,  95  ;  raised  from 

the  inland  counties,  96 ;  declared 

legal  by  the  judges,  96,  97  ;  declared 

illegal  by  Act  of  Parliament,  119 
Sibbes,    Richard,   character  of  his 

Puritanism,  84;  his  attachment  to 

the  Church,  85 
Skippon  leads  the  forces  of  the  city 

to  Turnham  Green,  133 
Somerset,  Earl  of,  his  rise  and  fall,  26 
Somersetshire,  dedication  feasts  in, 

88 

Spain  makes  peace  with  France,  4 ; 
its  negotiations  with  England,  24  ; 
distrust  of,  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, 38 ;  warlike  tendencies  in 
England  against,  45  ;  war  waged 
against,  53 ;  alliance  directed 
against,  54 ;  peace  with,  95  ;  Crom- 
well's quarrel  with,  181 ;  progress 
of  the  war  with,  182,  184,  189 

Star  Chamber,  Court  of,  its  rise,  9  ;  its 
character,  10 ;  sentence  of,  against 
Chambers,  72 ;  against  Leighton 
and  Sherfield,  80 ;  against  Prynne, 
91  :  against  Prynne,  Bastwick,  Bur- 
ton, 98 ;  abolished  by  Act  of  Par- 
liament, 119 

Stayner  captures  a  Spanish  fleet,  185 

Strafford,  Earl  of,  advises  the  sum- 
moning of  the  Short  Parliament, 
112  ;  joins  Charles  in  the  north,  114; 
impeached,  115;  Bill  of  Attainder 
against,  117;  execution  of,  118 

Strode,  William,  impeachment  of,  127 

TEST  Act,  the,  211 
Ihirty  Years'  War,  outbreak  of,  31 
"  Thorough,"  Laud's  system  of,  93 
Tilly  invades  the  Palatinate,  38 
Toleration  Act,  the,  212 
Tonnage  and  poundage,  the  king's 

right  to  raise,  disputed,  64 
Triple  Alliance,  the,  209 
Tudor,  House  of,  its  strong  govern- 
ment, 8 


YOR 

Turnhara  Green,  fhe  City  forces  at, 
133 


u 


LSTER  colonized,  102 


VALENTINE,  Benjamin,  holds 
the  Speaker  in  his  chair,  71 
Vane,  Sir  Henry,  the  younger,  brings 
fresh  evidence   against  Strafford, 
115  ;  his  political  ideas,  166 
Vaudois,  persecuted  by  the  Duke  of 
Savoy,  182;  Milton's  sonnet  on,  182 
Yenables  takes  part  in  Penn's  expe- 
dition to  the  West  Indies,  182 
Verney,  Sir  Edmund,  his  conversa- 
tion with  Hyde,  131 
Vervins,  peace  of,  4 
Virginia,  colonization  of,  86 

WALES,  outbreak  of  war  in,  157 
Wentworth,  Sir  Thomas,  his 
part  in  Charles'  third  Parliament, 
59 ;  contrasted  with  Eliot,  60 ;  be- 
comes President  of  the  North,  79  ; 
becomes  Lord  Deputy  of  Ireland, 
103  ;  his  reforms,  104 ;  proposes  to 
colonize  Connaught,  105 ;  created 
Earl  of  Strafford,  112;  see  Straf- 
ford, Earl  of 
West   Indies,   expedition    sent  by 

Cromwell  to,  182 
Westminster  Assembly,  the,  137 
Weston,  Lord  Treasurer,  character 
of  his  policy,  77 ;  created  Earl  of 
Portland,  94;  see  Portland,  Earl 
of 

Wexford  taken  by  Cromwell,  163 

Wimbledon,  Viscount,  leads  the  ex- 
pedition to  Cadiz,  52 

Winceby,  fight  at,  143 

Winnington  Bridge,  defeat  of  the 
Royalists  at,  194 

Winthrop,  John,  settles  in  Massa- 
chusetts, 87  ;  changes  the  name  of 
Hue's  Cross,  87 

Worcester,  battle  of,  165 


Y 


ORK,  besieged  by  the  Parlia- 
mentary army,  144 


*"  The  volumes  contain  the  ripe  results  of  the  studies  of  men  who 
are  authorities  in  their  respective  fields.'' — The  Nation. 

EPOCHS  OF  HISTORY 


EPOCHS  OF  EPOCHS  OF 

ANCIENT  HISTORY  MODERN  HISTORY 

Eleven  volumes,  i6ino,  Eighteen  volumes,  i6mo, 

each  $i.oo.  each  $i.oo. 

The  Epoch  volumes  have  most  successfully  borne  the  test  of 
experience,  and  are  universally  acknowledged  to  be  the  best  series 
of  historical  manuals  in  existence.  They  are  admirably  adapted  in 
form  and  matter  to  the  needs  of  colleges,  schools,  reading  circles, 
and  private  classes.  Attention  is  called  to  them  as  giving  the 
utmost  satisfaction  as  class  hand-books. 

Noah  Porter,  President  of  Yale  College, 
"The  'Epochs  of  History*  have  been  prepared  with  knowl- 
edge and  artistic  skill  to  meet  the  wants  of  a  large  number  of 
readers.  To  the  young  they  furnish  an  outline  or  compendium. 
To  those  who  are  older  they  present  a  convenient  sketch  of  the 
heads  of  the  knowledge  which  they  have  already  acquired.  The 
outlines  are  by  no  means  destitute  of  spirit,  and  may  be  used  with 
great  profit  for  family  reading,  and  in  select  classes  or  reading  clubs. " 

Charles  Kendall  Adams,  President  of  Cornell  University. 
'*A  series  of  concise  and  carefully  prepared  volumes  on  special 
eras  of  history.  Each  is  also  complete  in  itself,  and  has  no  especial 
connection  with  the  other  members  of  the  series.  The  works  are 
all  written  by  authors  selected  by  the  editor  on  account  of  some 
especial  qualifications  for  a  portrayal  of  the  period  they  respectively 
describe.  The  volumes  form  an  excellent  collection,  especially 
adapted  to  the  wants  of  a  general  reader." 

The  Publishers  will  supply  these  volumes  to  teachers  at  SPECIAL 
NET  RA  TES,  and  would  solicit  correspondence  concerning 
terms  for  examination  and  introduction  copies. 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS,  Publishers 

153-157  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 


THE  GREAT  SUCCESS  OF 
THE  SERIES 

is  the  best  proof  of  its  general  popularity,  and  the  excellence  of 
the  various  volumes  is  further  attested  by  their  having  been 
adopted  as  text-books  in  many  of  our  leading  educational  institu- 
tions. The  publishers  beg  to  call  attention  to  the  following  list 
comprising  some  of  the  most  prominent  institutions  using  volumes 
of  the  series : 


Smith  College,  Northampton,  Mass. 
Univ.  of  Vermont,  Burlington,  Vt. 
Yale  Univ.,  New  Haven,  Conn. 
Harvard  Univ.,  Cambridge,  Mass. 
Bellewood  Sem.,  Anchorage,  Ky. 
Vanderbilt  Univ.,  Nashville,  Tenn. 
State  Univ.,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 
Christian  Coll.,  Columbia,  Mo. 
Adelphi  Acad.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Earlham  Coll.,  Richmond,  Ind. 
Granger  Place  School,  Canandaigua, 
N.  Y. 

Salt  Lake  Acad.,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 
Beloit  Col.,  Beloit,  Wis. 
Logan  Female  Coll.,  Russellville,  Ky, 
No.  West  Univ.,  Evanston,  111. 
State  Normal  School,  Baltimore,  Md. 
Hamilton  Coll.,  Clinton,  N.  Y. 
Doane  Coll.,  Crete,  Neb. 
Princeton  College,  Princeton,  N.  J. 
Williams  Coll.,  Williamstown,  Mass. 
Cornell  Univ.,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 
Illinois  Coll.,  Jacksonville,  111. 


Univ.  of  South,  Sewaunee,  Tenn. 
Wesleyan  Univ.,  Mt.  Pleasant,  la. 
Univ.  of  Cal.,  Berkeley,  Cal. 
So.  Car.  Coll.,  Columbia,  S.  C. 
Amsterdam     Acad.,  Amsterdam, 
N.  Y. 

Carleton  Coll.,  Northfield,  Minn. 
Wesleyan  Univ.,  Middletown,  Mass. 
Albion  Coll.,  Albion,  Mich. 
Dartmouth  Coll.,  Hanover,  N.  H. 
Wilmington  Coll.,  Wilmington,  O. 
Madison  Univ.,  Hamilton,  N.  Y. 
Syracuse  Univ.,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 
Univ.  of  Wis.,  Madison,  Wis. 
Union  Coll.,  Schenectady,  N.  Y. 
Norwich  Free  Acad.,  Norwich,  Conn. 
Greenwich  Acad.,  Greenwich,  Conn. 
Univ.  of  Neb.,  Lincoln,  Neb. 
Kalamazoo  Coll.,  Kalamazoo,  Mich. 
Olivet  Coll.,  Olivet,  Mich. 
Amherst  Coll.,  Amherst,  Mass. 
Ohio  State  Univ.,  Columbus,  O. 
Free  Schools,  Oswego,  N.  Y. 


Bishop  J.  F.  Hurst,  ex-Fresident  of  Drew  Theol.  Sem, 
It  appears  to  me  that  the  idea  of  Morris  in  his  Epochs  is 
strictly  in  harmony  with  the  philosophy  of  history — namely,  that 
great  movements  should  be  treated  not  according  to  narrow 
geographical  and  national  limits  and  distinction,  but  universally, 
according  to  their  place  in  the  general  life  of  the  world.  The 
historical  Maps  and  the  copious  Indices  are  welcome  additions 
to  the  volumes." 


EPOCHS   OF  ANCIENT 
HISTORY. 

A  SERIES  OF  BOOKS  NARRATING    THE  HISTORY  OF 
GREECE  AND  ROME,  AND  OF  THEIR  RELATIONS  TO 
OTHER  COUNTRIES  AT  SUCCESSIVE  EPOCHS. 

Edited  by 

Rev.  G.  W.  Cox  and  Charles  Sankey,  M.A. 

Eleven  volumes,  i6mo,  with  41  Maps  and  Plans, 
Sold  separately.    Price  per  vol.,  $1.00. 
The  Set,  Roxburgh  style,  gilt  top,  in  box,  $11.00, 


TROY— ITS  LEGEND,  HISTORY,  AND 
LITERATURE.    By  S.  G.  W.  Benjamin. 

**  The  task  of  the  author  has  been  to  gather  into  a  clear 
and  very  readable  narrative  all  that  is  known  of  legendary, 
historical,  and  geographical  Troy,  and  to  tell  the  story  of 
Homer,  and  weigh  and  compare  the  different  theories  in  the 
Homeric  controversy.  The  work  is  well  done.  His  book  is 
altogether  candid,  and  is  a  very  valuable  and  entertaining 
compendium." — Hartford  Courant. 

**As  a  monograph  on  Troy,  covering  all  sides  of  the  ques- 
tion, it  is  of  great  value,  and  supplies  a  long  vacant  place  in 
our  fund  of  classical  knowledge." — N,  V,  Christian  Advocate, 

THE   GREEKS   AND   THE    PERSIANS.  By 

Rev  G.  W.  Cox. 

''It  covers  the  ground  in  a  perfectly  satisfactory  wav. 
The  work  is  clear,  succinct,  and  readable." — New  York 
Independent. 

*'  Marked  by  thorough  and  comprehensive  scholarship  and 
by  a  skillful  style." — Congregationalist, 

It  would  be  hard  to  find  a  more  creditable  book.  The 
author's  prefatory  remarks  upon  the  origin  and  growth  of 
Greek  civilization  are  alone  worth  the  price  of  the  volume.' 
■—Christian  Union, 


EPOCHS  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY 


THE  ATHENIAN  EMPIRE— From  the  Flight 
of  Xerxes  to  the  Fall  of  Athens.  By  Rev. 
G.  W.  Cox. 

**  Mr.  Cox  writes  in  such  a  way  as  to  bring  before  the 
reader  everything  which  is  important  to  be  known  or  learned; 
and  his  narrative  cannot  fail  to  give  a  good  idea  of  the  men 
and  deeds  with  which  he  is  concerned." — The  Churchman, 

**Mr.  Cox  has  done  his  work  with  the  honesty  of  a  true 
student.  It  shows  persevering  scholarship  and  a  v^esire  to 
get  at  the  truth.'* — New  York  Herald. 

THE  SPARTAN  AND  THEBAN  SUPREMA- 
CIES.   By  Charles  Sankey,  M.A. 

**  This  volume  covers  the  period  between  the  disasters  of 
Athens  at  the  close  of  the  Pelopenesian  war  and  the  rise  of 
Macedon.  It  is  a  very  striking  and  instructive  picture  of  the 
political  life  of  the  Grecian  commonwealth  at  that  time.*' — 
The  Churchman. 

"It  is  singularly  interesting  to  read,  and  in  respect  to 
arrangement,  maps,  etc.,  is  all  that  can  be  desired." — Boston 
Congregationalist, 

THE  MACEDONIAN  EMPIRE— Its  Rise  and 
Culmination  to  Death  of  Alexander  the 
Great.    By  A.  M.  Curteis,  M.A. 

"A  good  and  satisfactory  history  of  a  very  important  period. 
The  maps  are  excellent,  and  the  story  is  lucidly  and  vigor- 
ously told." — The  Nation. 

**  The  same  compressive  style  and  yet  completeness  of 
detail  that  have  characterized  the  previous  issues  in  this 
delightful  series,  are  found  in  this  volume.  Certainly  the  art 
of  conciseness  in  writing  was  never  carried  to  a  higher  or 
more  effective  point." — /Boston  Saturday  Evening  Gazette. 

The  above  Jive  vuLumes  give  a  connected  and  complete 
history  of  Greece  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  death  of 
A  lexander. 


EPOCHS  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY 


EARLY  ROME— From  the  Foundation  of  the 
City  to  its  Destruction  by  the  Gauls,  By 

W.  IHNE,  Ph.D. 

Those  who  want  to  know  the  truth  instead  of  the  t»-a- 
ditions  that  used  to  be  learned  of  our  fathers,  will  find  in  '^e 
work  entertainment,  careful  scholarship,  and  sound  sense.* 
Cincinnati  Times, 

The  book  is  excellently  well  done.  The  views  are  those 
of  a  learned  and  able  man,  and  they  are  presented  in  this 
volume  with  great  force  and  clearness.'* — The  Nation, 

ROME  AND  CARTHAGE— The  Punic  Wars. 

By  R.  BoswoRTH  Smith. 

By  blending  the  account  of  Rome  and  Carthage  the  ac- 
complished author  presents  a  succinct  and  vivid  picture  of 
two  great  cities  and  people  which  leaves  a  deep  impression. 
The  story  is  full  of  intrinsic  interest,  and  was  never  better 
told." — Christian  Union. 

**  The  volume  is  one  of  rare  interest  and  value." — Chicago 
Interior, 

*'An  admirably  condensed  history  of  Carthage,  from  its 
establishment  by  the  adventurous  Phoenician  traders  to  its 
sad  and  disastrous  fall." — New  York  Herald, 

THE  GRACCHI,  MARIUS,  AND  SULLA.  By 

A.  H.  Beesley. 

A  concise  and  scholarly  historical  sketch,  descriptive  of 
the  decay  of  the  Roman  Republic,  and  the  events  which  paved 
the  Avay  for  the  advent  of  the  conquering  Caesar.  It  is  an 
excellent  account  of  the  leaders  and  legislation  of  the  repub- 
lic."— Boston  Tost. 

It  is  prepared  in  succinct  but  compreher^jiive  style,  and  is 
an  excellent  book  for  reading  and  reference," — New  York 
Observer. 

"  No  better  condensed  account  of  the  two  Gracchi  and  the 
turbulent  careers  of  Marius  and  Sulla  has  yet  appeared." — 
New  York  Independent. 


EPOCHS  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY 


THE  ROMAN  TRIUMVIRATES.  By  the  Very  Rev. 
Charles  Merivale,  D.D. 

**  In  brevity,  clear  and  scholarly  treatment  of  the  subject, 
and  the  convenience  of  map,  index,  and  side  notes,  the 
volume  is  a  model." — New  York  Tribune. 

"An  admirable  presentation,  and  in  style  vigorous  and 
picturesque." — Hartford  Courant, 

THE  EARLY  EMPIRE— From  the  Assassina- 
tion of  Julius  Caesar  to  tine  Assassination 
of  Domitian.    By  Rev.  W.  Wolfe  Capes,  M.A. 

It  is  written  with  great  clearness  and  simplicity  of  style, 
and  is  as  attractive  an  account  as  has  ever  been  given  in 
brief  of  one  of  the  most  interesting  periods  of  Roman 
Y^\sX.oxy J' —Boston  Saturday  Evening  Gazette. 

**  It  is  a  clear,  well-proportioned,  and  trustworthy  perfor- 
mance, and  well  deserves  to  be  studied." — Christian  at 
Work, 

THE  AGE  OFTHE  ANTONINES-The  Roman 
Empire  of  the  Second   Century.   By  Rev. 

W.  Wolfe  Capes,  M.A. 

'*  The  Roman  Empire  during  the  second  century  is  the 
broad  subject  discussed  in  this  book,  and  discussed  with 
learning  and  intelligence." — New  York  Independent. 

"  The  writer's  diction  is  clear  and  elegant,  and  his  narra- 
tion is  free  from  any  touch  of  pedantry.  In  the  treatment  of 
its  prolific  and  interesting  theme,  and  in  its  general  plan,  the 
book  is  a  model  of  works  of  its  class." — New  York  Herald, 

**  We  are  glad  to  commend  it.  It  is  written  clearly,  and 
with  care  and  accuracy.  It  is  also  in  such  neat  and  compact 
form  as  to  be  the  more  attractive." — Congregationalist. 

The  above  six  volumes  give  the  History  of  Rome  from 
the  founding  of  the  City  to  the  death  of  Marcus  Aurelius 
Antoninus, 


EPOCHS   OF  MODERN 
HISTORY. 

A  SERIES  OF  BOOKS  NARRATING   THE  HISTORY  OF 
ENGLAND  AND  EUROPE  AT  SUCCESSIVE  EPOCHS 
SUBSEQUENT  TO  THE  CHRISTIAN  ERA. 

Edited  by 

Edward  E.  Morris. 

Eighteen  volumes,  i6mo,  with  74  Maps,  Plans,  and  Tables, 
Sold  separately.    Price  per  vol.,  $1.00. 
The  Set,  Roxburgh  style,  gilt  top,  in  box,  $18.00. 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES- 
England  and  Europe  in  the  Ninth  Century. 

By  the  Very  Rev.  R.  W.  Church,  M.A. 

''A  remarkably  thoughtful  and  satisfactory  discussion  of 
the  causes  and  results  of  the  vast  changes  which  came  upon 
Europe  during  the  period  discussed.  The  book  is  adapted  to 
be  exceedingly  serviceable." — Chicago  Standard. 

**At  once  readable  and  valuable.  It  is  comprehensive  and 
yet  gives  the  details  of  a  period  most  interesting  to  the  student 
of  history. " — Herald  ajtd  Presbyter. 

*'It  is  written  with  a  clearness  and  vividness  of  statement 
which  make  it  the  pleasantest  reading.  It  represents  a  great 
deal  of  patient  research,  and  is  careful  and  scholarly." — 
Boston  Journal. 

THE  NORMANS  IN  EUROPE— The  Feudal 
System  and  England  under  the  Norman 
Kings.    By  Rev.  A.  H.  Johnson,  M.A. 

"  Its  pictures  of  the  Normans  in  their  home,  of  the  Scan- 
dinavian exodus,  the  conquest  of  England,  and  Norman 
administration,  are  full  of  vigor  and  cannot  fail  of  holding  the 
reader's  attention." — Episcopal  Register. 

**  The  style  of  the  author  is  vigorous  and  animated,  and  he 
has  given  a  valuable  sketch  of  the  origin  and  progress  of  the 
great  Northern  movement  that  has  shaped  the  history  of- 
modern  Europe." — Boston  Transcript. 


EPOCHS  OF  MODERN-  HISTORY 


THE  CRUSADES.    By  Rev.  G.  W.  Cox. 

**  To  be  warmly  commended  for  important  qualities.  The 
author  shows  conscientious  fidelity  to  the  materials,  and  such 
skill  in  the  use  of  them,  that,  as  a  result,  the  reader  has 
before  him  a  narrative  related  in  a  style  that  makes  it  truly 
fascinating. ' ' —  Congregationalist. 

*'  It  is  written  in  a  pure  and  flowing  style,  and  its  arrange- 
ment and  treatment  of  subject  are  exceptional." — Christian 
Intelligencer, 

THE  EARLY  P  LA  N  TAG  E  N  ETS— Their 
Relation  to  the  History  of  Europe;  The 
Foundation  and  Growth  of  Constitutional 
Government.   By  Rev.  W.  Stubbs,  M.A. 

"Nothing  could  be  desired  more  clear,  succinct,  and  well 
arranged.  All  parts  of  the  book  are  well  done.  It  may  be 
pronounced  the  best  existing  brief  history  of  the  constitution 
for  this,  its  most  important  period.'* — The  Nation. 

"Prof.  Stubbs  has  presented  leading  events  with  such  fair- 
ness and  wisdom  as  are  seldom  found.  He  is  remarkably 
clear  and  satisfactory. —  The  Churchman. 

EDWARD  III.    By  Rev.  W.  Warburton,  M.A. 

"  The  author  has  done  his  work  well,  and  we  commend  it 
as  containing  in  small  space  all  essential  matter." — New  York 
Independent. 

**  Events  and  movements  are  admirably  condensed  by  the 
author,  and  presented  in  such  attractive  form  as  to  entertain 
as  well  as  instruct." — Chicago  Interior. 

THE  HOUSES  OF  LANCASTER  AND  YORK 
— The  Conquest  and  Loss  of  France.  By 

James  Gairdner. 

"Prepared  in  a  most  careful  and  thorough  manner,  and 
ought  to  be  read  by  every  student. " — New  York  Times. 

**It  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired  as  regards  compactness, 
accuracy,  and  excellence  of  literary  execution." — Boston 
Journal. 


EPOCHS  OF  MODERN  HISTORY 


THE  ERA  OF  THE  PROTESTANT  REVO-- 
LUTION.  By  Frederic  Seebohm.  With  Notes,  on 
Books  in  English  relating  to  the  Reformation,  by  Prof. 
George  P.  Fisher,  D.D. 

*  *  For  an  impartial  record  of  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
changes  about  four  hundred  years  ago,  we  cannot  commend  a 
b^ter  manual." — Sunday- School  Times. 

"All  that  could  be  desired,  as  well  in  execution  as  in  plan. 
The  narrative  is  animated,  and  the  selection  and  grouping  of 
events  skillful  and  effective." — The  Nation. 

THE   EARLY  TUDORS— Henry  VII.,  Henry 

VIII.  By  Rev,  C.  E.  Moberley,  M.A.,  late  Master  in 
Rugby  School. 

**Is  concise,  scholarly,  and  accurate.  On  the  epoch  of  which 
it  treats,  we  know  of  no  work  which  equals  it." — N.  V.  Observer. 

**  A  marvel  of  clear  and  succinct  brevity  and  good  historical 
judgment.  There  is  hardly  a  better  book  of  its  kind  to  be 
named." — New  York  Independent. 

THE  AGE  OF  ELIZABETH.  By  Rev.  M. 
Creighton,  M.A*. 

Clear  and  compact  in  style  ;  careful  in  their  facts,  and 
just  in  interpretation  of  them.  It  sheds  much  light  on  the 
progress  of  the  Reformation  and  the  origin  of  the  Popish 
reaction  during  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign  ;  also,  the  relation  of 
Jesuitism  to  the  latter." — Presbyterian  Review. 

A  clear,  concise,  and  just  story  of  an  era  crowded  with 
events  of  interest  and  importance."^ — N^w  Ycrk  World. 

THE   THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR— 1 61 8^1 648. 

By  Samuel  Rawson  Gardiner. 

**  As  a  manual  it  will  prove  of  the  greatest  practical  value, 
while  to  the  general  reader  it  will  afford  a  clear  and  interesting 
account  of  events.  We  know  of  no  more  spirited  and  attractive 
recital  of  the  great  era." — Boston  Saturday  Evening  Gazette. 

The  thrilling  story  of  those  times  has  never  been  told  so 
vividly  or  succinctly  as  in  this  volume." — Episcopal  Register. 


EPOCHS  OF  MODERN-  HISTORY, 


THE  PURITAN  REVOLUTION;  and  the  First 

Two  Stuarts,  1603-1660.  By  Samuel  Rawson 
Gardiner. 

The  narrative  is  condensed  and  brief,  yet  sufficiently  com- 
prehensive to  give  an  adequate  view  of  the  events  related."^ 
— Chicago  Standard, 

**Mr.  Gardiner  uses  his  researches  in  an  admirably  clear 
and  fair  way  " — Congregaiionalist. 

*  *  The  jketcn  t.g  concise,  but  clear  and  perfectly  intelligible." 
— Hartford  Couraiit, 

THE  ENGLISH  RESTORATION  AND  LOUIS 
XIV.,  from  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  to  the 
Peace  of  Nimwegen.    By  Osmund  Airy,  M.A. 

It  is  crisply  and  admirably  written.  An  immense  amount 
of  information  is  conveyed  and  with  great  clearness,  the 
arrangement  of  the  subjects  showing  great  skill  and  a  thor- 
ough command  of  the  complicated  theme." — Boston  Saturday 
Evening  Gazette, 

*'The  author  writes  with  fairness  and  discrimination,  and 
has  given  a  clear  and  intelligible  presentation  of  the  time." — 
New  York  Evangelist, 

THE  FALL  OF  THE  STUARTS;  and  Western 
Europe.    By  Rev.  Edv^ard  Hale,  M.A. 

**  A  valuable  compend  to  the  general  reader  and  scholar." 
— Providence  Journal, 

"It  will  be  found  of  great  value.  It  is  a  very  graphic 
account  of  the  history  of  Europe  during  the  17th  century, 
and  is  admirably  adapted  for  the  use  of  students." — Boston 
Saturday  Evening  Gazette. 

"An  admirable  handbook  for  the  student. " —  The  Churchman, 

THE  AGE  OF  ANNE.    By  Edward  E.  Morris,  M.A. 

"The  author's  arrangement  of  the  material  is  remarkably 
clear,  his  selection  and  adjustment  of  the  facts  judicious,  his 
historical  judgment  fair  and  candid,  while  the  style  wins  by 
its  simple  elegance." — Chicago  Standard. 

"An  excellent  compendium  of  the  history  of  an  important 
period." — The  Watchman, 


EPOCHS  OF  MODERN  HISTORY. 


THE  EARLY  HANOVERIANS— Europe  from 
the  Peace  of  Utrecht  to  the  Peace  of  Aix- 
/a-Chapelle.    By  Edward  E.  Morris,  M,A. 

Masterly,  condensed,  and  vigorous,  this  is  one  of  the 
books  which  it  is  a  delight  to  read  at  odd  moments  ;  which 
are  broad  and  suggestive,  and  at  the  same  time  condensed  in 
treatment.  — Christian  Advocate. 

A  remarkably  clear  and  readable  summary  of  the  salient 
points  of  interest.  The  maps  and  tables,  no  less  than  the 
author^s  style  and  treatment  of  the  subject,  entitle  the  volume 
to  the  highest  claims  of  recognition/' — Boston  Daily  Ad- 
vertiser. 

FREDERICK  THE  GREAT,  AND  THE  SEVEN 
YEARS'  WAR.    By  F.  W.  Longman. 

"The  subject  is  most  important,  and  the  author  has  treated 
it  in  a  way  which  is  both  scholarly  and  entertaining." — The 
Churchman. 

Admirably  adapted  to  interest  school  boys,  and  older 
heads  will  find  it  pleasant  reading." — New  York  Tribune. 

THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION,  AND  FIRST 
EMPIRE.  By  William  O'Connor  Morris.  With 
Appendix  by  Andrew  D.  White,  LL.D.,  ex-President  of 
Cornell  University. 

We  have  long  needed  a  simple  compendium  of  this  period, 
and  we  have  here  one  which  is  brief  enough  to  be  easily  run 
through  with,  and  yet  particular  enough  to  make  entertaining 
reading." — New  York  Evening  Post. 

The  author  has  well  accomplished  his  difficult  task  of 
sketching  in  miniature  the  grand  and  crowded  drama  of  the 
French  Revolution  and  the  Napoleonic  Empire,  showing 
himself  to  be  no  servile  compiler,  but  capable  of  judicious 
and  independent  criticism." — Springfield  Republican. 

THE  EPOCH  OF  REFORM— 1  830- 1  850.  By 

Justin  McCarthy. 

''Mr.  McCarthy  knows  the  period  of  which  he  writes 
thoroughly,  and  the  result  is  a  narrative  that  is  at  once  enter- 
taining and  trustworthy." — New  York  Examiner. 

The  narrative  is  clear  and  comprehensive,  and  told  with 
abundant  knowledge  and  grasp  of  the  subject." — Boston 
Courier. 


IMPORTANT  HISTORICAL 
WORKS. 

CIVILIZATION  DURING  THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 
Especially  in  its  Relation  to  Modern  Civil- 
ization. By  George  B.  Adams,  Professor  of  History  in 
Yale  University.    8vo,  ^2.50. 

Professor  Adams  has  here  suppHed  the  need  of  a  text-book 
for  the  study  of  Mediaeval  History  in  college  classes  at  once 
thorough  and  yet  capable  of  being  handled  in  the  time  usually 
allovired  to  it.  He  has  aimed  to  treat  the  subject  in  a  manner 
which  its  place  in  the  college  curriculum  demands,  by  present- 
ing as  clear  a  view  as  possible  of  the  underlying  and  organic 
growth  of  our  civilization,  how  its  foundations  were  laid  and  its 
chief  elements  introduced. 

Prof.  Kendric  C.  Babcock,  University  of  Minnesota : — *<It 
is  one  of  the  best  books  of  the  kind  which  I  have  seen.  We 
shall  use  it  the  coming  term." 

Prof.  Marshall  S.  Brown,  Michigan  University: — **I 
regard  the  work  as  a  very  valuable  treatment  of  the  great 
movements  of  history  during  the  Middle  Ages,  and  as  one 
destined  to  be  extremely  helpful  to  young  students. ' ' 

Boston  Herald  : — *'  Professor  Adams  admirably  presents 
the  leading  features  of  a  thousand  years  of  social,  political, 
and  religious  development  in  the  history  of  the  world.  It  is 
valuable  from  beginning  to  end. ' ' 

HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.    By  E. 

Benjamin  Andrews,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  President  of  Brown 
University.    With  maps.    Two  vols.,  crown  octavo,  ^4.00. 

Boston  Advertiser: — *'We  doubt  if  there  has  been  so 
complete,  graphic,  and  so  thoroughly  impartial  a  history  of  our 
country  condensed  into  the  same  space.  It  must  become  a 
standard." 

Advance: — **One  of  the  best  popular,  general  histories  of 
America,  if  not  the  best." 

Herald  and  Presbyter  : — The  very  history  that  many 
people  have  been  looking  for.  It  does  not  consist  simply  of 
minute  statements,  but  treats  of  causes  and  effects  with  philo- 
sophical grasp  and  thoughtfulness.  It  is  the  work  of  a  scholar 
and  thinker." 


IMPORTANT  HISTORICAL  WORKS. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  ROME,  from  the  Earliest 
Time  to  the  Period  of  Its  Decline.    By  Dr. 

Theodor  Mommsen.  Translated  by  W.  P.  Dickson,  D.D., 
LL.D.  A  New  Edition,  Revised  throughout,  and  embodying 
recent  additions.    Five  vols.,  with  Map.    Price  per  set,  ^lo.oo. 

A  work  of  the  very  highest  merit  ;  its  learning  is  exact 
and  profound  ;  its  narrative  full  of  genius  and  skill ;  its 
descriptions  of  men  are  admirably  vivid." — London  Times. 

**  Since  the  days  of  Niebuhr,  no  work  on  Roman  History 
has  appeared  that  combines  so  much  to  attract,  instruct,  and 
charm  the  reader.  Its  style — a  rare  quality  in  a  German 
author — is  vigorous,  spirited,  and  animated." — Dr.  Schmitz. 

THE  PROVINCES  OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 
From  Caesar  to  Diocletian.  By  Theodor 
Mommsen.  Translated  by  William  P.  Dickson,  D.D., 
LL.D.    With  maps.    Two  vols.,  8vo,  $6.00. 

"  The  author  draws  the  wonderfully  rich  and  varied  picture 
of  the  conquest  and  administration  of  that  great  circle  of 
peoples  and  lands  which  formed  the  empire  of  Rome  outside 
of  Italy,  their  agriculture,  trade,  and  manufactures,  their 
artistic  and  scientific  life,  through  all  degrees  of  civilization, 
with  such  detail  and  completeness  as  could  have  come  from 
no  other  hand  than  that  of  this  great  master  of  historical  re- 
search."— Prof.  W\  A.  Packard,  Princeton  College. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC. 

Abridged  from  the  History  by  Professor  Theodor  Mommsen, 
by  C.  Bryans  and  F.  J.  R.  Hendy.    i2mo,  $1.75. 

**  It  is  a  genuine  boon  that  the  essential  parts  of  Mommsen*s 
Rome  are  thus  brought  within  the  easy  reach  of  all,  and  the 
abridgment  seems  to  me  to  preserve  unusually  well  the  glow 
and  movement  of  the  original/' — Prof.  Tracy  Peck,  Yale 
University. 

**The  condensation  has  been  accurately  and  judiciously 
effected.  I  heartily  commend  the  volume  as  the  most  adequate 
embodiment,  in  a  single  volume,  of  the  main  results  of  modern 
historical  research  in  the  field  of  Roman  affairs.** — Prof. 
Henry  M.  Baird,  University  of  City  of  New  York. 


IMPORTANT  HISTORICAL  WORKS, 


THE  DAWN  OF  HISTORY.   An  Introduction 

to  Pre-Historic  Study.  New  and  Enlarged  Edition. 
Edited  by  C.  F.  Keary.    i2mo,  cloth,  $1.25. 

This  work  treats  successively  of  the  earliest  traces  of  man  ; 
of  language,  its  growth,  and  the  story  it  tells  of  the  pre-his- 
toric  users  of  it ;  of  early  social  life,  the  religions,  mythologies, 
and  folk-tales,  and  of  the  history  of  writing.  The  present 
edition  contains  about  one  hundred  pages  of  new  matter, 
embodying  the  results  of  the  latest  researches. 

A  fascinating  manual.  In  its  way,  the  work  is  a  model 
of  what  a  popular  scientific  work  should  be." — Boston  Sat 
Eve.  Gazette, 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  NATIONS.  By  Professor  George 
Rawlinson,  M.A.    i2mo,  with  maps,  $1.00. 

The  first  part  of  this  book  discusses  the  antiquity  of  civiliza- 
tion in  Egypt  and  the  other  early  nations  of  the  East.  The 
second  part  is  an  examination  of  the  ethnology  of  Genesis, 
showing  its  accordance  with  the  latest  results  of  modern 
ethnographical  science. 

work  of  genuine  scholarly  excellence,  and  a  useful 
offset  to  a  great  deal  of  the  superficial  current  literature  on 
such  subj ects. " —  Congregationalist, 

MANUAL  OF  MYTHOLOGY.  For  the  Use 
of  Schools,  Art  Students,  and  General 
Readers.  Founded  on  the  Works  of  Pet- 
iscus,  Preller,  and  Welcker.  By  Alexander 
S.  Murray,  Department  of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities, 
British  Museum.  With  45  Plates.  Reprinted  from  the 
Second  Revised  London  Edition.    Crown  8vo,  $1.75. 

**  It  has  been  acknowledged  the  best  work  on  the  subject 
to  be  found  in  a  concise  form,  and  as  it  embodies  the  results 
of  the  latest  researches  and  discoveries  in  ancient  mythologies, 
it  is  superior  for  school  and  general  purposes  as  a  handbook 
to  any  of  the  so-called  standard  works." — Cleveland  Herald. 

"Whether  as  a  manual  for  reference,  a  text-book  for  school 
use,  or  for  the  general  reader,  the  book  will  be  found  very 
valuable  and  interesting." — Boston  Journal, 


IMPORTANT  HISTORICAL  WORKS. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  GREECE.  By  Prof.  Dr. 
Ernst  Curtius.  Translated  by  Adolphus  William  Ward, 
M.A.,  Fellow  of  St.  Peter's  College,  Cambridge,  Prof,  of 
History  in  Owen's  College,  Manchester.  Five  volumes, 
crown  8vo.    Price  per  set,  $10.00. 

We  cannot  express  our  opinion  of  Dr.  Curtius'  book  bet- 
ter than  by  saying  that  it  may  be  fitly  ranked  with  Theodor 
Mommsen's  great  work. " — London  Spectator. 

**As  an  introduction  to  the  study  of  Grecian  history,  no 
previous  work  is  comparable  to  the  present  for  vivacity  and 
picturesque  beauty,  while  in  sound  learning  and  accuracy  of 
statement  it  is  not  inferior  to  the  elaborate  productions  which 
enrich  the  literature  of  the  age."— A^.  Y,  Daily  IHbune, 

CiCSAR:  a  Sketch.  By  James  Anthony  Froude, 
M.A.    i2mo,  gilt  top,  I1.50. 

**This  book  is  a  most  fascinating  biography  and  is  by  far 
the  best  account  of  Julius  Caesar  to  be  found  in  the  English 
language."— 7;^-?  London  Standard. 

*'He  combines  into  a  compact  and  nervous  narrative  all 
that  is  known  of  the  persona],  social,  political,  and  military 
life  of  Cagsar ;  and  with  his  sketch  of  Caesar  includes  other 
brilliant  sketches  of  the  great  man,  his  friends,  or  rivals, 
who  contemporaneously  with  him  formed  the  principal  figures 
in  the  Roman  world." — Harper' s  Monthly. 

CICERO.   Life  of  Marcus  Tullius  Cicero.  By 

William  Forsyth,  M.A.,  Q.C.  20  Engravings.  New 
Edition.    2  vols.,  crown  8vo,  in  one,  gilt  top,  $2.50. 

The  author  has  not  only  given  us  the  most  complete  and 
well-balanced  account  of  the  life  of  Cicero  ever  published  ; 
he  has  drawn  an  accurate  and  graphic  picture  of  domestic  life 
among  the  best  classes  of  the  Romans,  one  which  the  reader 
of  general  literature,  as  well  as  the  student,  may  peruse  with 
pleasure  and  profit. 

''A  scholar  without  pedantry,  and  a  Christian  without  cant, 
Mr.  Forsyth  seems  to  have  seized  with  praiseworthy  tact  the 
precise  attitude  which  it  behooves  a  biographer  to  take  when 
narrating  the  life,  the  personal  life  of  Cicero.  Mr.  Forsyth 
produces  what  we  venture  to  say  will  become  one  of  the 
classics  of  English  biographical  literature,  and  will  be  wel- 
comed  by  readers  of  all  ages  and  both  sexes,  of  all  professions 
and  of  no  profession  at  all." — London  Quarterly. 


VALUABLE  WORKS  ON 
CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  ROMAN  LITERATURE. 
From  the  Earliest  Period  to  the  Death  of 

Marcus  Aurelius.  With  Chronological  Tables,  etc., 
for  the  use  of  Students.  By  C.  T.  Cruttwell,  M.A.  Crown 
8vo,  $2.50. 

Mr.  CruttwelFs  book  is  written  throughout  from  a  purely 
literary  point  of  view,  and  the  aim  has  been  to  avoid  tedious 
and  trivial  details.  The  result  is  a  volume  not  only  suited 
for  the  student,  but  remarkably  readable  for  all  who  possess 
any  interest  in  the  subject. 

**  Mr.  Cruttwell  has  given  us  a  genuine  history  of  Roman 
literature,  not  erely  a  descriptive  list  of  authors  and  their 
productions,  but  a  well  elaborated  portrayal  of  the  successive 
stages  in  the  intellectual  development  of  the  Romans  and  the 
various  forms  of  expression  which  these  took  in  literature." — 
N.  V.  Nation. 


UNIFORM  WITH  THE  ABOVE. 

A   HISTORY   OF   GREEK  LITERATURE. 
From  the  Earliest  Period  of  Demosthenes. 

By  Frank  Byron  Jevons,  M.A.,  Tutor  in  the  University 
of  Durham.    Crown  8vo,  $2.50. 

The  author  goes  into  detail  with  sufficient  fullness  to  make 
the  history  complete,  but  he  never  loses  sight  of  the  com- 
manding lines  along  which  the  Greek  mind  moved,  and  a 
clear  understanding  of  which  is  necessary  to  every  intelligent 
student  of  universal  literature. 

It  is  beyond  all  question  the  best  history  of  Greek  litera- 
ture that  has  hitherto  been  published." — London  Spectator. 


CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS, 

153-157  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 


